When You Find Me
by Barton-Hollow
Summary: The girls must discover what it is like to live with and without each other.
1. Chapter 1

**Notes:** I thought of this fic somewhere between the beginning and the end of S2. It follows its own path after S2's finale. This is my first Bomb Girls fic, so I'm a little nervous.

**Warning:** Trigger warning for mentions of abuse and trauma.

* * *

I want to let the rain come down

Make a brand new ground

Let the rain come down

-_Let the Rain _by Sara Bareilles

* * *

Betty felt the springs prodding her as she awkwardly sat on the couch beside Vera while they sipped on punch. She looked up at the "Welcome Home" banner and wondered how Gladys ever thought having a party for her release was ever a good idea.

She felt the stares of the other girls as they all sat in the community room at the boarding house. It felt like half of Toronto had showed up. And they were all a little too nice for her comfort. She could see behind their fake smiles and hugs that they were judging her. The only reason they were there was to get a good look at the convict. The one who got away with murder.

Luckily for her, Gladys' fancy lawyer had managed to finagle a deal based on good behavior and no-prior records to get the charges dropped to lesser degrees. It took some time, but here she was, sitting right back on the couch of the boarding house. Her home.

She tugged at the collar of her buttoned blouse, suddenly feeling the cloths tight clasp around her throat. It felt how noose might feel, just like as she imagined so many nights in her cell.

"It must be nice to be back in your old room," Vera tried, noting the need for brighter conversation. "I'm guessing Gladys worked her magic there too?"

"Mmm, I guess. Sounds like her," Betty shrugged. "She could talk Hitler into shaving the wacky stache if she had the chance."

"Okay, girls! Why don't we liven' up this party with some music?" Gladys said, cheerily as she glided back into room as if on cue. She reached for the record player and nervously placed the latest Bing Crosby record on for a spin.

Betty could tell her friend was trying hard to act like everything was normal. Like Betty was returning from a trip instead of skipping a death sentence. She figured the other girl had been out in the hall, calling to find the whereabouts of the one person not there. It was the elephant in the room everyone must be whispering about. She had not seen Kate since the night before she turned herself in. When they had both lay on her bed and accepted their fate.

There had been no visits, no phone calls, not even so much as a post card during the 9 weeks she had spent locked up. At first, she had been happy that the other girl had stayed away. Told herself that it was better if Kate moved on. Got on with her life. But then on one of Vera's visits, she let it slip about Kate singing at the nightclub again. She smiled and said she was happy to hear it, but the little fact stayed with as she lay alone on her cot with nothing but her thoughts to keep her busy. It was like the grain of sand in her shoes, the longer it sat there the more it rubbed against her the wrong way.

Encouraging others to dance, Gladys spun two girls around and laughed as they took the eager girl's cue to continue. "That's the spirit!"

She spun around towards the couch and extended her hand to Betty.

Betty looked up at her with raised eyebrows.

"Not. Gonna. Happen."

Vera hid her smile behind her cup as she looked between the two facing off.

"Come on, Bets! It'll be like old times," Gladys tried, ardently.

"Wasn't so crazy about the old times either," Betty smiled for the first time since she had been out. "Two left feet, remember?"

"I remember them…" Kate said, stumbling into the room.

They all turned to see the red-head standing just inside the French doors, using them to steady her teetering balance.

"Kate," Betty said, quietly as she stood up, her eyes wide as she breathed in the sight of the newcomer.

Vera nervously stood up as well, turning towards Kate. "Good, the whole gangs back together once more."

"Am I late?" Kate asked, wobbling towards them.

"No, you're just in time for the fun," Gladys nervously laughed as she reached out to steady their friend. Her head reeled back at the strong smell of liquor coming from the red-head. "Woah Nelly, which smells like you may have already started else where."

Kate pushed past Gladys and stumbled her way towards the couch. She stopped right in front of Betty and regarded her for the first time in what felt like countless weeks.

"Hi," Betty's voice nervously squeaked out.

Betty never saw the blow coming. She only felt it as Kate slapped her with enough force to send her tumbling back onto the couch behind her.

"Kate!" Gladys and Vera both yelped. The whole room seemed to take in a surprise gasp of air at the same time.

"You think what you did made me happy?" Kate sneered, angrily pointing down at Betty.

Betty blinked hard at the enraged girl before her as she held to the side of her face that stung almost as much as the angry words currently being directed at her did.

"Did you think it would make me love you?" She furiously asked. "It didn't!"

Betty heard the whispers behind her as Kate's angry words cut deep.

"That's enough!" Gladys said, pulling Kate away.

"It didn't make me love you," Kate railed on as Gladys stepped in between them while she pointed angrily at Betty, who was still sitting in shock on the couch. "It only made me hate you for it!"

"Kate!" Gladys snapped. She stood firm between her two friends. "Just leave."

Kate finally looked at Gladys before looking down at the hand she had slapped Betty with.

"Go." Gladys gritted out, her jaw clenching with resolve.

Kate nodded before stumbling back out of the room.

The only thing that could be heard was Betty's hard breathing and the murmurs of the other girls in the room. Vera and Gladys anxiously looked at each other, uncertain of what to do or say next.

Betty couldn't take it anymore, so she jumped up and shoved past them both just as the tears began to fall.

"You go take care of the hurt, I'll go take care of the drunk."

She heard Vera offer as she made her way down the hallway towards her room. She knew Gladys would be at her door soon, so she locked it behind her. She didn't want to let her in any time soon.

Betty walked to the other side of the bed and slid to the floor as she heard Kate's hurtful words rang in her mind all over again.

If she could help it, she wouldn't let anyone in ever again.


	2. Chapter 2

The weight of the doubt

Turned me to glass

I'm through living in question

Dreaming the answers

No more paving the present with pain from my past

And I will let you go

-_I Will Let You Go _by Daniel Ahearn

* * *

Kate lingered by the open door of the community room and looked in as Gladys flipped through a magazine on the couch.

She wondered how to approach her, should she say hello first? Pretend nothing happened? Or drop straight to her knees and beg for her forgiveness? She hadn't felt this awkward about starting a conversation with the other girl since the first day she saw her arrive at VicMu with a driver in tow.

Her pounding head also reminded her that she still couldn't recall the whole night before, but the hazy memory of it that she did have left, left her feeling sick and wishing she could forget the bits and pieces that were burned into her memory.

She looked down at her hand and felt the sting from striking her best friend. Her stomach rolled as a new wave of nausea hit her. She had spent the better part of the morning locked away in the bathroom sicker than she had ever been after the memories from the night before came crashing back to her in all its Technicolor glory.

Her father's image flashed through her mind. Whispering the fear that she might be like him. She was just so angry all the time. Her father use to tell her how she should feel, who she should be, and what her future held without ever giving her a chance to decide for herself. And then came along Ivan, while a sweet and upstanding fella, he too sometimes would try to tell her who she should be, a part to play as the sweet girlfriend and not as a burlesque girl or fiancé with a sketchy past. When Betty decided to turn herself in for her father's death, it reminded her once again that someone was deciding her fate for her. Taking the decision from her hands and determining her destiny. All three would claim love as the origin, but it all seem jumbled to her. Betty and Ivan were not anything like her father. Her father's offenses came from a dark, hateful place while Ivan's misguided judgment came from a lack of knowledge. Betty's decision though came from something that was uniquely Betty. Something that was good and brave and incredibly foolish. It would come from this wonderfully selfless hero, who offered her freedom and damnation in one fell swoop. She often wondered how Betty could ever think her imprisonment would assure her own freedom.

She cleared her throat and pushed the feelings back as she stepped inside of the room.

"Hi."

Gladys looked up, her expression unreadable. "Hey."

"I just want to apologize," Kate started, wringing her hands. "About what happened last night… I just… I'm sorry I ruined your party. And for everything that happened."

Gladys nodded while keeping her emotions in check.

"Did you apologize to Betty?"

"No," Kate whispered, shamefully looking down at the floor. "I think it's best if I give her some time… I'm probably the last person she wants to see right now."

Gladys nodded again. A long pause settled in between them as they thought of their friend hurting alone in her room. Refusing to see anyone.

"I just don't understand," Gladys said, reflectively, causing Kate to look up at her. "How did we get here? Where did it all go wrong for us?"

Kate shrugged helplessly. She could offer no words of wisdom, no words of comfort, because she wasn't exactly sure where things had fallen apart either. Maybe it was when she pushed her father over the railing. Or, maybe even before that, when she left with him the winter before, even after Betty begged her to stay. Her greatest fear though was that the problem lay on the first day she stepped foot inside of Victory Munitions. Just maybe it was that very first fateful day that had been their undoing.

"Did you know I use to be jealous of you two?" Gladys asked, breaking into Kate's thoughts.

"Jealous?" Kate asked, surprised.

"Well, maybe jealous isn't the correct word. Maybe envious is better. When I first met you both… I liked you both instantly and I knew I wanted… no, needed your friendship. I saw how close you two were and I wanted that too."

"We liked you too, Gladys," Kate offered meekly, unsure where the conversation was going. "We wanted your friendship, too."

Gladys gave her a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Not exactly the same though," She said in such a sad tone that it caused Kate's heart to sink to her knees. "You two were this entity. You just got each other in ways that I couldn't… needed each other in ways that you didn't need me. It was like this closed circle and as hard as I tried, I could never quite break through to get inside of it."

Kate's gaze fell to the floor. She never knew Gladys felt this way. She and Betty never meant to make her feel left out of anything.

"I use to think maybe it was because of Betty's feelings for you," Gladys said, her small smile returned when Kate's head came up in surprise. Their eyes locked as they acknowledged the unspoken truth.

"Gladys…" Kate tried, unsure what to say.

"And I was okay with that," Gladys continued. "What you two shared… It was special and I was happy to be any part of it. But now…. Now our friend is hurting in a way like never before. What she's been through, after the trial and prison, and coming back here…"

Gladys' voice trailed off as Kate nodded and closed her eyes. They both knew things would never be the same again.

"She's going to have a rough time getting back on her two feet again. We both know the people at the factory won't make it easy. Lord knows it took an act of parliament to get her back at VicMu and back on the blue shift, but that's just the beginning of the road she'll have to hold."

"Yeah," Kate agreed, softly.

"She'll need a friend in all this. One who will make it easier, you know? I think the best thing Betty needs right now is for her life not to be so… complicated."

Kate nodded her understanding as she met Gladys' despairing eyes. She smiled sadly at the unspoken declaration. Gladys was choosing Betty. And asking her to step back and let their friend heal without her.

She wanted to tell her that it was okay. She never meant for Gladys to be faced with such choices. Never meant for this to be so complicated. The simple fact was that Betty needed Gladys now. Their roles had been reversed. And it was her turn to stand outside of the circle.

"Of course," Kate said, hating the way her voice cracked. "Take good care of our friend."

She turned to go, but paused when Gladys called her name out suddenly.

"Kate…"

She turned back to see that Gladys felt bad about the situation at hand. Her eyes pleading for her to understand the words she couldn't find. She never thought she'd see the day when Gladys Witham was at a loss for words.

"I don't… I'm not saying we can't still be friends. I'm just saying Betty needs me and I have to focus on that… maybe with time… we can all get back to how things use to be."

Kate nodded, smiling sadly. "Yeah, sure thing."

She turned to leave, knowing they were both lying. How could things ever get back to the way things used to be after all that had happened?

All they had now were painful memories and empty promises.


	3. Chapter 3

I want to darken in the skies

Open the floodgates up

I want to change my mind

I want to be enough

I want the water in my eyes

I want to cry until the end of time

I want to let the rain come down

Make a brand new ground

Let the rain come down

_-Let the Rain _by Sara Bareilles

* * *

"You ready to get back into the swing of things with training?" Gladys asked as they walked out of the dressing rooms.

"Training?" Betty said, checking her front pockets for her gloves. "Not sure that ship is ready to set sail, yet."

Betty had been back for a month and she was still hiding away in the line. She and Kate had successfully avoided each other so far as they both kept their distance. Kate made it easier by taking up a new spot on down the line while Betty kept to herself and barely spoke to anyone. Even Gladys had a hard time getting her to come out of her shell.

"Come on, Betty. You can't hide away forever. I bet it'll make you feel better to give 'em heck on their first day," She handed Betty the clip board with the new workers names on it, hoping to inspire her friend into action. "Give 'em the old, if you can pour tea, you can pour amatol spiel. Rally the troops and bust their chops. It'll feel good."

"Mmm, tempting, but I think I'll take a pass. Besides, haven't you heard, my murky reputation doesn't exactly make me the best candidate for representing VicMu's standards these days."

"Why, they're all newbies," Gladys waved off. "They don't know about your recent stint in the big house…. Not yet, at least. You probably have a good half a day before that piece of news gets to them."

"Jeez, Princess," Betty scoffed, looking over at her with a smirk. "Thanks for the subtlety there."

"Hey, McRae!" A booming voice called out from behind, causing Betty's head to snap up in recognition "How'd you ever get such a peachy job?"

Betty turned to see a tall girl with jet-black hair standing there with her arms crossed and head titled with a smirk placed firmly across her face. Her eyes were almost as dark as her hair, but there seemed to be a twinkle in them as she stared down at Betty with a crooked smile.

"What in the…." Betty looked down at the call sheet in her hands.

"I take it you two know each other?" Gladys asked as she looked between the two.

"Yeah, we go WAY back," The mysterious girl said, slapping Betty in the shoulder as she walked up to them. "Isn't that right, McRae? Saskatchewan … right?"

"Uh, yeah," Betty said, looking at the girl in front of her in wonder before looking back down at her clipboard. "…Ms. Kilpatrick."

"Oh, well, it's lovely to meet someone who knew our Bets way back when," Gladys said, smiling widely as she held her hand out to the new girl. "I'm Gladys Witham, it's a real pleasure to meet you, Ms. Kilpatrick."

"Mmm," the other girl slowly grinned, looking down at Gladys' extended hand before taking it into her own. "Pleasures, all mine, Hun. But I'll only answer to Arlene."

Gladys nodded and then suggested the new girls all follow her as she explained the riggings of the bomb lifters. Betty pulled Arlene to the side.

"What in the world are you doing here?" She demanded.

"Jeepers, _Bets_," Arlene said, mimicking Gladys earlier moniker. "Is that any greeting for a dear old friend?"

"Oh, you are neither dear nor old," Betty countered with a small smile. "What I mean is, how the hell did you get here?"

"Took a street car. Boy, for someone who handles bombs all day, you sure ask some peculiar questions."

"You know what I mean."

"Lets just say you're not the only one who knows a guy who can forge a good security clearance."

"You remember that story?" Betty asked, amazed.

"Of course, many great memories were shared in that cell," she said, leaning in to whisper, "I remember them all."

Betty cleared her throat as she felt her cheeks redden. She took a step back and looked around to see if anyone else was looking on. She was glad to see that Gladys seem to have the other newbies' enthralled on the importance of safety on the line. She heard Vera's name being used and she knew that would scare up their attention.

She turned back to Arlene who was still staring at her with a smile like she had stolen the last piece of pie of out of a plate without anyone noticing.

"So you decided to don a fake last name and come stir up trouble?" Betty asked, half joking, half serious.

"I came to get the Betty and Arlene duo back together. You can't fly straight without your wingman."

Betty gave her an unsure look.

"Betty McRae," She slyly smiled. "You just wait, we're going to blow this town wide open."

Betty wasn't sure if that statement made her happy or terrified her. All she knew was that it was the first time she actually felt something since she got back. And now she just wanted to lean into that feeling.

She just wanted to feel anything again.


	4. Chapter 4

I wrestled long with my youth

We tried so hard to live in the truth

But do not tell me all is fine

When I lose my head, I lose my spine

_-Hopeless Wanderer _by Mumford & Sons

* * *

"Joe, the couple at table 8 needs a pink lady and a whiskey sour," Kate told the bartender across the counter. She felt like she was getting pretty good at the lingo for working in an establishment that served alcohol. Not long ago, she didn't know a difference between a white wine versus a red one, but now she felt like a connoisseur in comparison. It was just another reminder of the differences between her old self and her now self. These two drinks for table 8 oddly represented her two selves. The first was mostly heavy crème for the weak drinkers while the other was a mixture of sweet and bitter for the more durable drinker.

She briefly wondered what her father would say if he knew that she worked in such a place, but she tried not to dwell on such thoughts for very long. She was just thankful for having a chance to earn the extra cash. After she spent so much time singing there, the manager offered her a job one night not long after Betty turned herself in. He told her she could be his show and dinner attraction. Kate jumped at the chance to earn extra cash while getting the chance to sing any time she wanted.

Plus, she had to keep her mind on something else while her best friend sat behind bars for her. To keep her mind at bay on the weekends, she began tailoring and doing alternations for the girls at the boarding house. They offered small payments or tradeoffs in return for her sewing and she gladly took it all. She had to take action in the only way she knew how.

"Hey, Red," Kate heard behind her. She turned to see Reggie standing there. "You going to be crooning for your dinner tonight?"

"Something like that," Kate said, smiling at the girl. "I thought you said you didn't like going out. This is the third time this week you've been here."

"No, I said I didn't like going out to the dopey places and that I prefer staying in to read."

"Right, which I believe you called the Jewel Box an ostentatious money trap that sucked the intellect and commonsense of the masses and how you'd never step foot in such a place."

"Yeah, but then you started working here, so I thought I'd give it a try… Turns out, still a pretty dopey place, but the atmosphere ain't half bad for pleasurable reading," She smiled, holding her book up for show.

"Well, whatever the reason, I'm glad you're here. Why don't you go take the corner booth by the stage and I'll bring you your usual," Kate said, pointing to a table next to the stage where Leon was setting up. She watched as the younger girl made her way to the table and began chatting with Leon.

Even though things were a little lonely at the boarding house, things seemed to be improving at the factory thanks to Reggie. Not long after her infamous drunken outburst at Betty's party, Reggie just sat down at her table at lunch one day and began talking to her like they were old friends. Like people didn't whisper about her in every room she entered or avoided her like the plague. Reggie also took a new spot next to her down the line, making her time at VicMu a little more bearable.

"So you build bombs by day and sing like an angel by night?" Came a voice over Kate's shoulder. She turned to find Betty's new friend sitting at a table just behind her, holding a tumbler of bourbon, "Isn't that the very definition of a contradiction?"

"Oh, sorry, I didn't see you there," Kate said, walking up to her table. "You're Betty's friend, right? Arlene?"

She had heard murmurs from the other girls at the factory of this mysterious new girl, whom seem to follow Betty everywhere she went. Word was that she was from Betty's past. A time in her life before the factory. She couldn't help but wonder what time that might have been. And how might the then Betty differed from the now Betty.

"Betty was right about one thing," Arlene said, grabbing Kate's attention again. "If you're half as talented at building bombs as you are singing, the Axis powers don't stand a chance."

Kate's heart skipped a beat at the idea of her friend saying such kind words after everything that had happened.

"I can see how it happened."

"How what happened?" Kate said, her brow furrowing in confusion.

"How Betty could fall for such an act," She said, leaning back in her chair as she looked up at Kate with a devilish smile gracing her face. "The girl with many faces… A beautiful siren, who entices at night, but builds death by day. It's like right out of a Greek tragedy, really. Betty doesn't even want to come here because of you. Such a shame."

Kate felt her face flush red as the other girl's words hit home.

"How does it feel to have done such a number on our mutual friend?"

Kate shook her head dumbly as she stood rooted in her spot.

"I mean, what you did… that's where the real tragedy comes in," Arlene hissed, now leaning forward closer to her.

Kate took her words full on and let them cut through her.

"Stringing her along with your sweet, but deadly act…"

Kate's heart began to race once more as she wondered what all Betty had told this girl.

"And she fell in more ways than one, didn't she?"

Kate opened her mouth to say something, to object, to agree, to tell her to stop, but nothing followed.

"Look, I've done some pretty questionable things in my life, but pinning your dear old Pops death on your best friend…" She chuckled, before finishing with as much cold inflection as her eyes shined with venom. "I don't know whether to respect you… or fear you."

"How do you know all this?" Kate asked, hating the way her voice shook.

"From Betty, of course," She purred, the corners of her lips twitching upwards as the words struck Kate. "I heard it all straight from the source."

Kate felt like her heart would burst right then and there. Betty had told this girl everything. She had confided in Arlene all these awful things. But what made her feel sick was the idea that Betty must have believed it all too. Betty resented everything she had done. How could she not? And now Betty felt like she couldn't even come to the Jewel Box because of her.

"Here you go, Kate," The bartender broke into Kate's thoughts as she turned around and stared at the order of drinks she had placed earlier. The pink lady and the whiskey sour.

"Well, you better get to it then," Arlene's cold voice came from behind her. "Go put your game face on, we both know you have one."

Kate turned around and locked eyes with the girl across from her.

"Tell Betty she doesn't have to avoid coming here," She said, determined. "Tell her I'll stay clear… she doesn't have to worry about me."

"Oh, don't worry, Hun. I'll make that perfectly clear."

Kate turned and walked away, her heart heavy with regret and turmoil.

* * *

**A/N:** I don't think Betty or Kate would ever outcast each other in such a way, but for this fic's purpose they will be. It's all heading somewhere though, don't worry.


	5. Chapter 5

Oh, you're acting your thin disguise

All your perfectly delivered lines

They don't fool me

You've been lonely, too long

-_Dust To Dust _by The Civil Wars

* * *

Lorna opened her door to find Kate standing on the stoop.

"Ms. Andrews, what a pleasant surprise," She said, gesturing the younger girl inside.

"Hi, Mrs. Corbett. Is Reggie here?"

"No, she's gone down to the Buy-Rite to retrieve butter with the last of our rationing stamps."

"Oh," Kate said, looking down at the book in hand. "Well, I just wanted to return this book."

"She'll be right back if you'd like to stay and give it to her. In fact, why don't you stay for dinner?"

She gestured to the dinning room behind them. She knew many of the factory girls didn't get proper home-cooked meals very often while living in the cramped quarters of the boarding houses. She wondered when the last time Kate had seen a hot meal. It couldn't have been any time lately with the way the young girl juggled her responsibilities. Reggie told her about Kate's newfound employments. She knew some girls often worked other jobs, even other war jobs, to send money back home to less fortunate families, but she worried the girl wouldn't be able to keep up with such hours and fall back on her job at the factory. But, every morning rolled around and there she stood, prompt and ready to work through the long days on the line. Never faltering. What one does to disguise the loneliness never surprised her anymore.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to intrude," Kate said timidly, her hands clasped securely around the book in hand.

"Nonsense," Lorna waved off. She stepped to the side to reveal the dinner table that had roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, and greens on it. "As usual, I've over estimated my audience for Sunday dinner. With Mr. Corbett off at his brother's and Sheila working so much, we usually end up with way more food than Reggie and I can eat."

"It does smell lovely," Kate said, her eyes wide with hunger as she took in the carefully prepared food before her.

"Besides, you know what they say, food is a weapon and it's our duty to not waste it. Why don't you come sit down while we wait for Reggie."

Kate smiled at the offer and accepted her mentor's resolute offer as she walked around the table and sat down, placing her book on the table beside her.

"_Little Women_," Lorna read out, sitting down across from Kate. "That's a classic."

"It's my favorite book Reggie's let me borrow so far," Kate smiled.

"Ah, yes. It was my Eugene's favorite as well."

"Gene Corbett's favorite book is _Little Women_?" Kate asked, her eyes lighting up at the revelation.

"Yes, and I will be forced to flat deny it or possibly move if it ever gets out," Lorna chuckled.

Kate laughed. "Your secret is safe with me."

"He cried like a child when Beth died," Lorna smiled, letting the memory warm her heart.

"Rightfully, so," Kate sighed. "Jo is my favorite."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Absolutely. She is so strong and brave. Moving to New York to follow her dreams and never letting anyone tell her otherwise," Kate gushed, smiling as she rambled on. "Always the one in trouble because of her fiery attitude and mouth to match. But nothing compared to how much she loved her family, especially Beth."

"Yes, she was quite the character," Lorna nodded, smiling knowingly at the girl across from her.

"I always loved how she kicked Laurie's butt. Seemed she lost some of that fire after she moved away to New York though," Reggie said, standing in the doorway. Lorna and Kate turned to the new voice in the rom. She held up the sack in hand for show. "Got the rub for the grub."

"Oh, good. Kate will be joining us for dinner."

Reggie nodded and smiled as she sat beside her friend.

"Kate, tell me," Lorna said, passing the potatoes to her. "How is Betty? She was out two days this week."

Kate swallowed hard as she spooned out the fluffy starch onto her plate.

"Feeling better, I think," Kate said as nonchalantly as possible, handing the bowl to Reggie while keeping eye contact limited. "She'll be back up and running soon, I'm sure."

"I hope so," Lorna said, worry cutting into her tone. Betty had been acting peculiar ever since she returned to the factory. "It's so unlike Betty to be so… under the weather."

"It's probably that toxic Arlene that's making her sick," Reggie replied as a heap of potatoes plopped onto her plate. "That's one odd bird, I tell ya. I heard she robbed a church back in the States and now she's hiding out here in good ole' VicMu."

"Really?" Kate asked, her face pensive with concern.

"Now Reggie, you shouldn't spread such fodder. I'm sure she has a good reason to be here," Lorna tried scolding, but it came out weaker than she meant for it to be.

"What?" Reggie shrugged. "I can't help it if Stable Mable comes off so untrustworthy. She seems like the type murder and mayhem follows."

"If Betty is her friend than she must not be that bad," Kate tried. "She's just…."

"Crazier than an outhouse rat?" Reggie quipped, eyebrows raised daring her friend to refute the statement.

Kate laughed and shook her head. Lorna tried to hide her smile behind her napkin as she watched the two friends carry on. She couldn't help but think this new person in Betty's life was proving to be a bad influence on her once best worker. Betty had been late and she swore she smelled the hint of liquor on her a few weeks back. She knew Betty was struggling to return to her life after her experiences earlier in the year, but it was still discomforting to see the promising girl falter. It seemed Betty was putting up her own disguised defense for loneliness.

"Betty has a good head on her shoulders," Kate offered, gently breaking into Lorna's thoughts as her eyes met Lorna's. "It may take some time, but I have faith that she'll bounce back. How could she not? She's Betty."

"Yes, well, lets hope she finds the motivation to find her way back to the Betty we know soon. VicMu could sure use her," Lorna said.

"Yeah," Kate replied, softly. "It surely could."


	6. Chapter 6

If I knew the way to less alone

Then it wouldn't sink me like a stone

Find the words to save

I wasn't born to fade

-_Everyone Is Gonna Love Me Now _by Ingrid Michaelson

* * *

"Guess what," Reggie said, plopping her tray down across from Kate. "I have not one, but two great pieces of news."

"Oh, yeah?" Kate asked as she watched her friend sit down in front of her.

"I just applied for an open position for the new top secret lab."

"What?" Kate asked, surprised by the abrupt news.

"I know, it's not really a top secret lab when everyone knows about it, but I heard they're working on some kind of special bomb that is suppose to be what wins the war. Annnd, I also heard because of that, they pay better than those working the line by a whole quarter."

"But you would just leave the blue shift?"

Reggie looked up from her plate at Kate's somber tone.

"I'd still be on the blue shift. I would just be working in a different section and have longer hours."

Kate gave her a skeptical look.

"And with better pay…" Reggie added. "Did I mention the better pay?"

Kate pushed the cold peaches around on her plate.

"Look, I don't know about you, but I don't plan to be working in a factory forever. This war isn't going to last forever and when it ends, I have big plans of my own."

"You do?" Kate asked, looking up intrigued.

"Yeah, I want to be a writer," She beamed. "I want to be the next Tolstoy or Austen. To write the next great novel and inspire the generations to come with my words and sweet subtle subtext."

Kate smiled warmly at the younger girls' enthusiasm.

"Don't you have dreams that don't consist of this dank war machine?"

Kate nodded. "Singing. I'd love to make a go at it singing."

"You got the pipes for it," Reggie said. "So see, I'll write a best seller and you'll top the charts with your voice as well."

"Sounds like a great plan, except for one thing," Kate said, sighing. "…I'll miss you terribly if you aren't working the line anymore."

"Well, see you haven't asked me about the other great piece of news that I have."

"Okay, then. Out with it, Tonto."

"They have another opening in the lab and I've put a good word in for you."

"What?" Kate asked, surprised once more.

"It'll be perfect," Reggie explained. "We'll still get to work together and we'll be doing something that is actually going to contribute to the war. It'll be better than the mind-numbing repetition brigade of the line."

"It's not so bad," Kate mumbled. "And we do make a difference. We all do our part, no matter how small it is."

Reggie regarded her friend for a moment. "Yeah, I know. It's just… what does the line have to offer you now?"

Reggie's gentle question struck a chord with Kate. She knew what the other girl was getting at.

"I'll think about it," She finally offered as she stood up with her tray and made her way to the disposal area. She wasn't sure she was ready to leave the line yet. It would mean she wouldn't be on the floor with her friends. She would have longer hours and would no longer take the same lunch breaks with them. Something about that seemed wrong to her. She already missed them enough when she was standing in the same room, what would it be like when she didn't even have that anymore?

As she made her way across the canteen, she passed Vera and Marco as they smiled and quietly chatted while eating lunch together. Vera reached over and placed a hand on top of Marco's as he made some corny joke, making Kate smile at the tenderness.

Kate looked to Lorna as she passed her mentor standing by the door, looking over her crew while holding a coffee cup in hand and talking with Mr. Atkins. Lorna nodded to the older man as they discussed the production time being lower than ever.

Finally, as Kate stopped and sorted the plastic utensils from her tray and placed them in their respective conservation barrels, she let herself look over to Betty and Gladys' table. Carol sat by Gladys as the two chatted on what Kate presumed to be about hairstyles as Carol held her hair up behind her, showing off some style she surely saw in one of her magazines. Gladys smiled and nodded as she offered advice while tucking stray strands behind Carol's plastic hair clip.

Betty's laughter caught Kate's attention and her eyes fell onto the blonde sitting just to the left of Gladys. Betty's shoulders shook as she laughed at something Arlene had said across from her. The corners of Kate's mouth twitched upwards as the warm sound reminded her of a time that seemed like a lifetime ago. When she use to sit across from Betty and was lucky enough to play the composer of that same a beautiful sound. The sound was so bittersweet now. Lovely to hear, even as she stood outside the moment, but also tortuous to know she couldn't hear it more often.

It was also the last reminder that her friends had moved on. They all had lives and friends of their own to get them through the day. She could stand all day in the same room and they wouldn't need her to make their lives any better. Not anymore. Maybe it was time for something different for her as well.

"Reggie?" She asked, coming back up to the other girl's table. "So you say this lab job pays more?"

Reggie looked up and smiled at her friend.

"You ready to do something other than being a spot on the line?"

Kate nodded and answered simply.

"I'm ready to do something more."


	7. Chapter 7

Back of the room

Looking at you

Counting the steps

Between us

A hundred and five

Little blades in a line

From your skin to mine

And I feel it

_-1000 times _by Sara Bareilles

* * *

Gladys sat in the circular booth at the Jewel Box at an angle from Arlene as she rambled on about some story from her past. Betty listened intently beside her as the other girl expressively described her troubled lifestyle growing up in an orphanage back in the States.

"So the nuns didn't notice the car was missing for three days?" Gladys asked, unsure of the story they were being told.

Arlene's eyes flickered over to Gladys for the first time since she began the story.

"Yeah, Witham," The girl snarked. "Nuns aren't exactly known for their keen interest in their car collection like some of our parents would've been."

Gladys' brow furrowed at the slight against her and her parents, but she stayed silent as Betty urged her to continue her story. She didn't quite trust the newest member of their little click. She was always bragging about some grand scheme she had pulled off in the past that was a little too good, or bad depending on how you looked at it, to be true.

She knew Betty and Arlene had known each other from her time away from VicMu, which meant she probably met her in prison, even though neither had actually admitted it. They had formed some sort of bond during this time and now Betty seemed to be enamored with her friendship with her. Arlene had convinced Betty to skip work several days, almost causing her to loose a spot on the line. It was only Arlene's hasty dramatics that saved their jobs. She had made up some outlandish story about helping stranded soldiers in a town over and how it would be un-Canadian to can someone over helping the war effort in their own way.

It wasn't Arlene's shady past or questionable stories that made Gladys feel so unsettled around her. She didn't trust the girl simply because of the way she made Betty act so uncharacteristically. She never thought she'd see a day when Betty would miss a workday. Even the time when she was practically dying with the flu, she showed up to work early. She had even given up all her old hobbies like packing supply kits for the soldiers and sorting the scrap collection for the war's conservation drives, leaving Gladys in a lurch when she had to do them alone.

Instead, the pair before her often went off together to seedy dive bars across town, coming home early in the morning loud and still half drunk. She thought the last thing Betty needed was the whispers of the girls at the boarding house catching up with her.

Gladys also felt the newcomer didn't really like her based on the fact she didn't shy away from taking pot shots at her or her family's prosperity any chance she got. Her taunting was different than when Betty called her Princess, which felt more charming than the rude ribbing Arlene directed towards her.

Plus, she also thought the girl was stealing from her. Little things like her lipstick, brooches, and hair combs kept disappearing once Arlene entered their lives. Gladys just wished she had some silver nitrate to prove the thief was guilty, but she knew this time she wouldn't have the help of her other best friend to back her up.

Gladys looked over Arlene's shoulder at Kate as she stood by the bar where she chatted with Reggie in between waiting tables and singing on stage. She missed her sweet friend. She would give anything to go back to a time where it was just the three of them against the world.

Now that Kate was working in the lab the only time Gladys got to see her was either at a distance at the Jewel Box or on Sundays when she would take clothes to her to work on as Kate took on alteration responsibilities in the boarding house. The truth was she just wanted an excuse to see her friend, so week after week she would bring her dresses to be hemmed or slacks to be tailored. Their chats were kept formal as though they were afraid if their conversations went beyond the surface it would hurt Betty somehow. Kate always seemed to understand as she politely offered her services without ever asking Gladys for more than she could give emotionally.

Gladys thought maybe it was time to work on her friendship with the red head, since it seemed Betty was absolutely content in her friendship with Arlene that didn't include her. Just as she was about to make the first move towards fixing her relationship with her old friend, the chime of the bell on the front door rang out. Kate's mother cautiously entered looking around the packed club while two younger boys followed closely behind.

She watched as Kate turned and slowly recognized the three at the door. She greeted each with surprised hugs and disbelief. Words spilling out unevenly as she took her family in. Gladys strained to hear as Kate warmly admire how much the two younger boys had grown, calling them Seymour and Gabriel. She told Seymour he had grown a bushel and said she had barely recognized Gabriel in a voice that seemed nostalgic.

Gladys looked over at Betty to see that she too was captivated by the scene playing out before them and was no longer paying attention to Arlene's story. The other girl must have noticed the loss of captivation as her story died out and she looked back at the reunited family.

"Who's that?" Arlene asked, feeling the importance of the moment.

"Her family," Betty said, quietly.

"Is that her brothers?" Gladys asked.

"I guess so."

Kate introduced her family to Reggie as the brother she called Gabriel crossed his arms and looked shyly at his shoes while Seymour looked around the glitzy nightclub in wonder. Kate's mother eagerly shook Reggie's extended hand and smiled warmly at her daughter's newly acquired friend. Reggie made some joke that caused Kate to laugh nervously and louder than normal. She was clearly knocked off center by the sudden re-appearance of her little family. She tentatively looked over to their table.

Gladys understood enough to know that she was looking over to find Betty in the room. To find her balance again.

The two girls eyes locked momentarily as they absorbed each other in the moment. Just as quickly as it happened though, Kate looked down, breaking the small moment and turned her attention to her youngest brother Seymour, who still seemed in awe of the crowded nightspot.

Betty looked down as well, shaking herself free from the moment as she found the ice of the drink in hand suddenly interesting.

"What a place to have a reunion." Arlene criticized.

Betty said nothing as Arlene began another one of her stories that Gladys could care less about. This time though she noticed Betty was no longer mesmerized by the other girl's lively renditions.

Gladys hid a small smile behind her hand as she pretended to listen to Arlene's story and watched as Betty's attention kept wondering back to Kate. The cautious homecoming seem to spell bound the blonde.

Gladys knew without a doubt that the more things changed, the more they stayed the same.

* * *

Next Day

* * *

Gladys looked over the produce in the small store and wondered how someone, whose family owned most of the grocery stores in the greater Toronto area, had no clue how to pick out a tomato. She often came to the small Mom and Pop stores because she didn't want any of the Witham employees to see the heiress struggle with her great mental battle on what entails the ripeness of vegetables.

"Gladys?" A familiar voice called out behind her.

Gladys froze thinking she was about to be exposed for her embarrassing lack of vegetable knowledge. She turned and found Kate's mother standing behind her with her two sons still dutifully in tow.

"Oh, Mrs. …Rowley," Gladys faltered as she reminded herself not to call her Mrs. Andrews. "Hi there!"

"It's so good to see you, dear," The older woman smiled. "This is Marion's brothers – Gabriel and Seymour."

Gladys smiled at the two younger boys. Gabriel looked to be about 15 as his cheeks reddened when he briefly met Gladys' gaze and smiled softly before looking elsewhere. Seymour bounced in place as he shook her hand eagerly with an easy smile. He looked to be about 11 or 12 and full of innocence. Both boys had blond hair that was just long enough to curl widely on its ends. She could see their resemblance to Kate in both demeanor and looks, which made her like them instantly.

"I was hoping I'd get to see you," Mrs. Rowley said, eyeing the tomatoes Gladys awkwardly held in her hands still. "Do you think you could make it to a dinner I'm putting on for Kate tonight?"

"Um… Well, I…. I…" Gladys stammered.

"We'll only be here for a day or two before we have to get back to my sister's," Mrs. Rowley continued. "And I'd love to cook for you and Betty for all you've done for my daughter. I know it's not very much, but it's the very least I could do. You two girls mean a great deal to our family."

Gladys swallowed the lump she felt rising in her throat as Kate's mother smiled lovingly at her.

"Of course," She said, nodding her head to shake away what was left of her brief thoughts of doubt. "It would be a pleasure."

"Tremendous!" She exclaimed, backing away, ready to be on her way again. "We're staying at Mrs. Cecil's boarding house near Smithfield. Dinner will be served around 6 o'clock."

Gladys wasn't sure what just happened as she stood there with the tomatoes still clumsily in hand and watched as Kate's family walked away happily. Just before out of earshot, Mrs. Rowley turned back and called out.

"Don't forget to bring Betty along!"

Gladys' mouth opened to call her back and tell her that she didn't think the other girl would be able to make it, but shut it once she saw they were already out the door. She wasn't sure what she would have said anyway. Sorry, Bet's not gonna make it for tea and crumpets, she's still dealing with the pain and misery of taking the fall for your daughter, who just happen to have accidentally killed your husband. It didn't exactly roll off the tongue in a proper way, as one would expect, coming from a Witham.

She sighed heavily as she put the vegetables back and shook her head at the absurdity of it all. Now what was she going to do?


	8. Chapter 8

**Warning:** Trigger warning for mentions of abuse and trauma.

* * *

Cause I would die to make you mine

Bleed me dry each and every time

I don't mind, no I don't mind it

I would come back 1000 times

_~1000 times _by Sara Bareilles

* * *

Gladys took what felt like the 100th awkward sip of water as she sat at the table with Kate's family. Gabriel sat across from her as he absent-mindedly played with the napkin holder, rolling it back and forth between his fingers. Seymour could hardly sit still beside her as his feet kicked out and swung underneath the table, while Kate's mother sat at the front of the table and repeatedly glanced between the front door and the clock on the wall.

Gladys thought the room actually felt small with just the three of them sitting in it. Apparently, the old home had been turned into temporary housing for mostly war workers with its residents all pulling night shifts that night, leaving the house empty and lonely feeling. The over sized table made Gladys feel boxed in as she shifted in her chair and tried to not think of how close the walls felt around her.

"Mother, why can't we go ahead and eat?" Seymour asked, eyeing the bread that was surely cold by now.

"We're going to wait on your sister. We haven't ate as a family in some time and we will rectify that tonight."

Gladys looked at the candle in between she and Gabriel as its hot wax slowly dripped down, reminding her that Kate was almost an hour and half late. The darkness around them made the night even more awkward. Not ten minutes after arriving for the dinner, the blackout sirens sounded out, leaving them no choice but to sit in the dark to wait for Kate. They were able to find a few old candles to give off just enough light for those around the table to see each other, but the only thing they really revealed were three people who weren't sure what to do or discuss.

It would have been less awkward if Betty had been there tonight too, but Gladys now realized that ship wasn't going to sail anytime soon. She and Betty had quite the row over the suggestion she come along, which then turned into an argument about her friendship with Arlene that quickly went down hill. It was just another topic that Gladys realized was off limits to her as well. The way her friends kept so many things to themselves drove her crazy sometimes.

"Do the blackout drills usually last this long?" Mrs. Rowley asked.

"Sometimes," Gladys said, thankful for a new subject. "Depends on the situation. In order to emulate a real invasion, whether by air or land, they conduct full-scale lock downs procedures. I suppose they're preparing us for longevity. From what I've read in the papers, our friendly neighbors across the pond are sometimes pounded by the Luftwaffe in droves. Hitler doesn't to rest for the weary it seems."

"Yeah," Seymour piped up. "But our boys in blue could take 'em. Why, we'd give 'em the one-two punch and Hitler's bandits would never know what hit them. They wouldn't stand a chance once they entered our air zone."

Gladys laughed at the young, optimistic outlook of the boy beside her.

"I quite agree, Seymour," She said, ruffling the younger boy's hair. "Say, did Kate ever tell you of the time we helped capture an escaped Nazi?"

"Nazi?" Seymour said with wide eyes. She noticed even Gabriel looked up with interest.

"Oh my, please do tell us," Mrs. Rowley urged, noticing her oldest peaked interest as well.

"Well, it was mostly Betty who did the capturing, but Kate and I were there when it all went down. He had stole away in Kate and Betty's basement after escaping a POW camp. It was all very exciting, just like it was right out of a Cagney picture."

"Wow," Seymour said with big eyes. "I can't wait to tell the boys at school."

"Oh, so do you enjoy school?"

"Oh yeah, absolutely. I've got lots of friends. Don't like the math too much though or the spelling, but the best part is they let us play baseball every day. Even Gabriel likes playing ball, isn't that right, Gabey?"

"Shut it, pipsqueak," Gabriel grumbled, his cheeks reddening at the attention. "I do not."

Gladys smiled at the two boys. "Oh, I love playing baseball."

"You do?" Gabriel asked, surprised. "But you're a girl."

"Well, yeah, doesn't mean I don't mind a little dirt in the skirt. I use to play with my brother when I was younger… well, okay so it was more like I watched them play, but I always thought it would be fun to play if he'd ever let me in the game."

"Boy, do I ever know what that's like," Seymour sighed exaggeratingly.

Gladys chuckled. "Gabriel, what's your favorite position?"

"Second base, but I play catcher most times because I'm not afraid of the batter."

"He can really smack that ball too. Last spring, he hit three homeruns."

"Gee, that's something," Gladys smiled at the boy across from her. "You keep that up and you'll be signed in the majors before you know it."

Gabriel smiled and Gladys noticed just how much he reminded her of Kate with his big, soulful eyes and charming grin. She was glad to see him finally perking up, she was beginning to wonder if he was going to be perpetually shy through the whole visit.

He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the door swinging open as Kate rushed in.

"Sorry!" She said, taking her coat off as she came through the door. "So sorry I'm late. I had to finish my bomb set out at work and then trying to get across town in a blackout, well, it makes things more interesting that's for sure!"

"Oh, well, the important thing is that you're finally here," Kate's mother said, standing up to hug her daughter.

Kate made her way around the table as she smiled at Gladys and her brothers.

"Gladys, it's so nice of you to come tonight…" She said earnestly as she tried squeezing behind Gabriel, whose chair sat close to the wall.

"Oh, my pleasure," Gladys said as Kate finally scooted past her younger brother and sat on his left side where the table was pushed flushed against the wall. "Gabriel and Seymour were telling me how much they enjoy school and baseball."

"Is that right?" Kate said, reaching for the basket of bread. "School, that's wonderful."

She placed a piece of bread on her plate before placing one on Gabriel's plate beside her and then passed it down to her mother.

"The boys are doing really well in school," Mrs. Rowley said, passing the bread around to Gladys. "I was afraid with as much time as you all missed they would be behind, but they've really done well. I think the open country atmosphere has done wonders for them."

Gladys brow furrowed at the odd comment as she picked up the bowl of potatoes in front of her and passed them to Kate. Why did they miss out on so much school?

"Don't forget baseball," Seymour said with a mouth full of bread. "It's the best part."

"Yes, it seems you have the next Joe DiMaggio sitting next to you, Kate."

Kate chuckled as Gabriel watched her scoop potatoes onto his plate.

"Do I now? That's great, Gabey."

"Maybe she can come see you play sometime and you guys can come see your sister sing at the Jewel Box as well. She's something special to see," Gladys beamed.

"I'm not setting foot in that filthy den again," Gabriel grumbled under his breath.

"Gabriel," Kate scolded. "That's no way to speak to someone. It's especially not the way to speak to a proper lady."

"Um, Gladys." Mrs. Rowley nervously tried changing the topic. "Kate writes to us about your work with the war funding efforts. Says you're the best in the county. How is that going?"

"Well I…" Gladys started, feeling the awkward need to get the conversation started in a better direction.

"How would you know what a proper lady does," Gabriel interrupted, looking to Kate. "You consort with negroes and degenerates like that Betty character you're always writing home about."

The sound of Kate's fork clattering against her plate echoed in the room as the air shifted and went still at his angry words.

"Gaberiel Rowley," Kate warned, turning towards the younger boy. "You need to take that back. You have no idea what you're speaking of."

"I've read the papers. I know exactly what _she_ did."

"No, actually, you have no idea what all she's done for me and this family," Kate said, her face reddening. "Now you apologize to our guest for…"

"The only one who needs forgiveness," Gabriel growled. "Is you, dear sister…"

In one smooth swoop, he grabbed the candlestick holder in front of him and slammed the lit candle onto his sister's arm beside him.

"You and your wicked path!" His voice was low and deep as his eyes flared with rage, paralyzing Kate in her spot as the younger boy pinned her arm down with one arm while grinding the flaming wax into her arm with the other.

It all happened so fast, Gladys had to blink to make sure she had seen it correctly. Her stomach rolled in horror as the hot wax landed heavily onto Kate's arm and the table around them.

The sound of chairs screeching across the floor echoed as Gladys, Seymour, and Kate's mother all jumped up in alarm, but the two in front of her seemed to be locked in a trance as Gabriel's low voice hissed at his sister.

"Father may not be around to burn the truth into you anymore…"

"Gabriel!" Mrs. Rowley screamed, trying desperately to pull her son off her daughter, but the younger boy held fast to his position and bore down harder into Kate's arm, boxing he and his sister into the far corner of the table.

Gladys watched in horror as Kate sat there paralyzed while Gabriel's eyes locked with hers. She looked over to Seymour who had backed away from the table and was now pressed against the wall with his head tucked down towards the floor. He had gone silent and pale.

"…but rest assure your whoring ways and immoral work in that night club and factory damnation will surely seal your fate …"

Why wasn't Kate doing something? Gladys thought desperately. The table was just large enough that even if she launched herself across it, she wouldn't reach them at her angle.

"…but for the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

Gladys grabbed her glass of water and heaved it forward, flinging the glass' contents across the table and onto the two across from her. It was the only thing she could think of to do to stop the madness. Gabriel jumped as the water hit the side of his face, breaking the trance Kate was locked into, as she wrenched her arm away and pushed her brother off of her. She jumped up and shoved her way past him.

Gladys stood rooted in her spot as she watched Gabriel retreat into one of the back bedrooms while Kate's mother followed her daughter into what she assumed was the kitchen, leaving her alone with Seymour in an eerie quietness that contrasted the loud outburst she had just witnessed.

Her mind turned in a hundred different directions. What just happened? How could he have done that to her? Did Kate's brother just call his sister a whore and condemn her to hell for working in a factory? What did he mean when he said their father wasn't around to burn the truth into her? Was this type of outburst normal?

She looked over to the youngest Rowley boy who was still pressed against the wall with his eyes and head down as if he were afraid to look up. He looked so small to Gladys.

"Seymour…" She said, but then realized she wasn't sure what she should say in the moment. "… Are you okay?"

He quickly nodded his head without looking up at her. His shoulders were slumped low and the boy, who could hardly sit still beside her earlier, now stood motionless as if he wished he could disappear into the wallpaper behind him.

Gladys reached over and gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay," She softly said. "I think it's over now."

The young boy finally looked up with such sorrow it sent pangs of sadness through her.

"It's never over."

Gladys' heart sank as she looked down at this boy that seemed so full of life and hope only moments ago. How could things have changed so badly, so quickly? The hollow sound of his voice reminded Gladys of a time not long ago when she asked Kate what she was so afraid of…

"_Everything."_

That night it had been an escaped Nazi that interrupted her chance to ask Kate why she felt that way, but now Gladys was finally beginning to understand.

Her mind began to whirl once more as images of Kate's scarred back played across her mind's eye. Kate's timid behavior in the showers as she always tried to find a corner… was she hiding more strange markings that Gladys never fully understood before? She always thought that maybe Kate had received those weird scars from a perfectly normal childhood story like falling through a barn floor, like in the stories Betty told when she and her brothers use to jump into hay from the top rafters of their barn and she fell through breaking her arm that time. She should have known though that the ugly curved lines crisscrossing Kate's back were never from some dreamy childhood memory, but a nightmare. They were placed there for a purpose.

What a damn fool she had been.

It was Kate's father.

He had put those marks on her just as Gabriel had done tonight.

With fury and hate.

The kitchen door creaked open as Kate's mother slipped back into the room.

"I think it's time we return to my sisters," She said, looking tired as she reached out for Seymour. "Go get your brother and gather our things."

Gladys watch as the boy scampered off to the back bedrooms.

"You're just going to leave?"

"I should have known it was too much, too soon," Mrs. Rowley said, gathering coats off the rack by the door. "Gabriel, he's normally not like this. Coming back here was a mistake. This place just … well, it….it…"

"Reminded him of his father?"

Kate's mother paused as she looked up and over at Gladys. There was nothing the woman could say that would explain the events they had witnessed tonight. No words to make the situation better.

"You'll take care of my daughter?"

The back hallway's door opened as Gabriel and Seymour came out, both holding suitcases in hand. They seemed all too accustomed to packing quickly.

"You could by staying," Gladys tried. As much as she didn't trust Gabriel now, she couldn't help but think that the person Kate needed the most would be her mother. "How is leaving going to help her?"

Mrs. Rowley put the coats down and walked over to her and reached out to take Gladys hands gently into her own.

"By setting her free."

Gladys breath caught in her throat as the words sunk in. She watched speechless as the older woman took a step back and walked over to her boys and handed them their coats. Once they were at the front door, Kate's mother stopped and looked back at Gladys, giving her a short nod before slipping out of her daughter's life as tenuously as she had come into it at the Jewel Box the night before.

She was now standing alone in the room, still rooted in the same spot at the table, where she had thrown the glass of water to stop the teenager from burning a hole into his sister's arm. The rumble of Gabriel's voice still reverberated in her ears.

Gladys swallowed hard as she looked over at the kitchen door.

She thought of her own mother and father and how different they were from Kate's parents. Where her parents had over protected her to the point that it took working in a factory to receive her first scar, it seemed Kate's scars didn't stop until she had started working there. She suddenly felt the urge to go home and hug both her parents tightly, but she knew she had better places to be.

Gladys made her way over to the kitchen door and quietly slipped through it. Kate was by the sink, staring vacantly out the window as the bright moon filtered through the window, casting her in somber gray colors.

Gladys watched as her entrance became known and the despondent stare was carefully tucked away. She wondered if Kate had always been so good at tucking her feelings away as she turned the faucet on and stuck the burned arm underneath it. How did she miss that this whole time?

"Did they leave?" Kate asked, carefully.

"Yeah."

"Probably for the best," She said, her voice steady while keeping her back to Gladys. "My Aunt, she needs all the help she can get at her place."

Gladys wasn't sure if she should go to her and hug her or try to say something to make the situation better. What could she say? She watched Kate press her lips together as the water cascaded over the blistering welt that was already forming on her arm.

"I'm just sorry your night was ruined," Kate finally said, trying to keep her voice casual. "You should go and try to save the rest of your night. I'm sure you must have plenty of better things to do. No need in wasting it here."

"Kate…" Gladys began, shaking her head in disbelief. There weren't many times in her life where she was left speechless, but tonight had been full of such rendering moments.

She watched as Kate reached up to the pantry by the sink and found a small first aid container. She tried to keep her arm as still as possible while she opened its top and carefully sorted through it, pulling out some sort of burn cream and bandages.

"I'm okay," She assured Gladys, uncorking the cream with her teeth while keeping her hurt arm close to her chest. "It's okay to go. I can do this on my own."

"I can see that," Gladys said softly before stepping towards her friend. "Doesn't mean you have to."

Gladys reached out and gently took Kate's elbow and led her to a chair by the kitchen table behind her. She pulled a chair up in front of Kate's and reached over for the first aid supplies.

She carefully turned Kate's arm over to get a better look at the burn. Looking at the scorched skin made her mentally cringe, but she shook it off when Kate's arm tensed up as her fingers brushed over the soft skin of Kate's wrist. She looked up to see Kate was watching her with a haunting mixture of anguish and awe.

"I guess it'll be another new scar," Kate tried to joke, but it only came out flat and quiet.

Gladys squeezed out the cream onto her fingers and, as gently as she could, rubbed it onto her friend's arm.

"Are the old ones on your back?" Gladys asked as gently as she handled Kate's arm.

Kate nodded slowly.

"Are they from your father?"

Kate gave no affirmation this time as silence fell between them while she watched Gladys spread the cream from her wrist, where the burn began, to just below the crook of her elbow, where it ended. Gladys wondered if she had overstepped her boundaries by prompting for information that Kate clearly wasn't keen on sharing with anyone, except Betty, it seemed.

Once again, she was reminded of the closed circle her two friends seemed to have formed early on. Betty must have known of the dangers her father would bring when Kate left them last winter. A memory played through her mind…

_Kate's a grown women, surely if she wanted to leave she could…_

…_. No. She can't._

She wished Betty were here now. She would automatically know how to help Kate. She always did. Kate deserved a better friend than the naïve one she had been up until now. Kate deserved Betty in this moment.

"I needed correction."

Gladys looked up at the sound of Kate's strangely cold voice.

"If I misspoke in my scriptures… If I asked too many questions about life outside of my family… If I gave in too soon in fasting…"

Gladys watched silently as her friend relived memories she couldn't see or fully understand.

"He didn't always leave scars…" She said, hauntingly. "Not ones you could see at least, but when he did…. Once, when I asked if I could have a pair of penny loafers to help stand the long hours on the corners with him, he said that vanity was the root of sin and told me that I needed to be reminded of my daily walk with God as a sinner…"

Gladys gulped as Kate's voice trailed off, watching helplessly as her friend disappeared into a distant memory.

"…So he burned the bottom of my left foot with an iron. …Made sure I knew my place in this world with every step I took."

Gladys felt nauseous.

"So I would spend hours with my bible studies. I tried spreading the Word like he wanted. Practiced my hymnals constantly. I worked so hard to be better for him, but it was never enough. I couldn't ever get it right. I guess that's what I get for ever thinking that I could."

"Kate," Gladys whispered, unraveling the bandages. "What he did to you… You are one of the best people I know. His actions had nothing to do with you. And neither did Gaberiel's."

"I know," She said, mesmerized by the way Gladys was delicately rapping the bandage around her arm. "He just sounded so much like my father, it threw me. I should have known he was agitated by the visit. I guess I just never know when I'm in over my head until it's too late."

"Kate, is that why you're working so much with the extra hours in the lab, the Jewel Box and the tailoring and such?"

"What?" Kate asked, looking up confused.

"Do you think you need some kind of correction for what happened last fall?"

"Gladys, that's not…"

"Because you don't. You don't, Kate. What happened… it wasn't your fault."

"I was the one who pushed him off that landing, Gladys. And I was the one who insisted we not explain things to the police when it happened. I was the one who made it worse."

"Kate…" Gladys said, not knowing what she could say to make her friend feel better about all that had happened.

"Betty went to prison for me," Kate said, her eyes filling with tears. "And that was my fault. She took my punishment."

Gladys took Kate into her arms as the tears fell. It suddenly struck her that she had never seen her friend cry before, a realization that was like a punch to the gut.

"Kate, what happened last year, it was beyond our control," She said soothingly. "I truly believe that. And if we could go back and do it differently, I know you would, so that counts for something. But don't ever think that you deserve any kind of punishment for the things that were out of your control."

"I just wish I could do right by her," Kate wept, holding onto Gladys.

"I know," Gladys nodded, closing her eyes at the sound of Kate's sincerity. She held her friend until she had no more tears left. After she quieted down, she pulled back and wiped the tear streaks from Kate's soft cheeks. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up and home. I think we may need to get someone to re-bandage you because my first attempt is just sad and pathetic."

Kate let out the kind of laugh that only comes after a hard cry, the kind that can't exactly heal souls, but can certainly nourish them. She wiped the corner of her eyes with the back of her hand as she looked down at the bandage that was crooked and already falling loose.

"You're doing just fine. You just gotta wrap it twice near the wrist to give it an anchor before moving up."

* * *

Gladys and Kate walked through the boarding house's foyer and turned to see Betty, Ruby, and Jill playing cards in the smoky community room.

"Ladies," Gladys greeted when they all turned to see them walk in.

"How was dinner?" Ruby asked. Betty looked on as she took a drag from her cigarette and sat back, crossing her legs by propping her ankle on her knee in a way that only Betty could pull off.

"Lovely," Kate answered, her voice too cheery.

Gladys helped Kate out of her coat, careful of her bandaged wound as Kate tried to stiffly pull her arm free without touching the coat sleeve.

"Woah, Nelly, what happened to your arm, Kate?" Jill asked, eyeing the bright bandage.

Kate looked to Gladys, suddenly unsure what to say.

"An unfortunate cooking accident," Gladys answered, chuckling to deflect the attention from her friend. "You know me, always the klutz in the kitchen. I shouldn't be trusted within a hundred feet of one, really."

Betty eyed the bandage suspiciously before looking up to Kate's face. Kate turned away, placing her coat on the rack behind her.

"Ladies, don't let McRae break the bank on you tonight," Gladys teased as she lightly guided Kate down the hallway. Betty watched them retreat down the corridor as the other girls began to chatter about the latest Carey Grant film playing at the Reivilo.

Once they were alone in Kate's room, Gladys helped the other girl into her nightgown.

"Thanks for saving me," Kate said, sitting down onto her bed.

"Oh, no worries, it's not so farfetched to believe I might be a danger to society when wielding hot objects in the kitchen."

"Not just about that though. For everything," she said, as Gladys sat down beside her. "I'm really glad you were there tonight."

"Me too," She replied, hugging her friend. "I'm just sorry I haven't been that good of a friend these last few weeks."

Kate pulled back.

"You've been too good of a friend to Betty and I both," she said. "Don't ever think otherwise. You're a real gem, Gladys Witham."

"Well, let me continue my good streak by helping you into bed," She said as she pulled the covers back for Kate to crawl under. Once Kate was comfortably placed with her bandaged arm lying outside of the covers, she leaned down and kissed the top of Kate's forehead. "Night, Kate."

Gladys turned the lights out as she quietly backed out of the room. Closing the door lightly, she turned and jumped to find Betty standing right behind her.

"Jeez, Betty," Gladys said, clutching her chest. "You're a sneaky one, aren't you? You might want to look into secret agent work."

"She okay?" Betty nodded to the door behind Gladys.

Gladys looked over her shoulder at the door behind her where they both knew Kate was hurting on the other side.

"No…" She replied, turning back to Betty, who looked as worried as Gladys felt earlier. "… But she's getting there."

Betty nodded as she took a step back towards her own door. Gladys made her way back down the hallway. She turned and watched as Betty stood in her doorway across from Kate's and leaned on her doorframe, her arms crossed as she studied the door before her with a furrowed brow of concern, as if she were listening intently to hear if Kate cried out in pain or from some nightmare that would surely come from that night's events. Betty had no real way of knowing what had occurred that night, and yet, there she stood, playing her role perfectly.

It had been one of the most unusual nights of Gladys' life, but seeing Betty protectively watch over Kate's room, like she was just waiting to swoop in when she was needed the most, felt like the most normal thing to happen in some time.

"Good night, Betty," She called out on her way down the hallway and smiled to herself as her words went unnoticed.

Things were feeling more normal, indeed.

* * *

**A/N: **I thought long and hard about putting Betty in the dinner scene, but I decided to go with just Gladys because I missed Gladys and Kate's friendship in S2 and always wanted Gladys to get a glimpse of Kate's past life and in turn showcase Betty and Kate's importance in their relationship to each other. Plus, the image of Betty protectively watching Kate's door afterwards left me feeling warm and missing the show even more than usual.


	9. Chapter 9

You only know what I want you to

I know everything you don't want me to

Oh your mouth is poison, your mouth is wine

You think your dreams are the same as mine

Oh I don't love you but I always will

Oh I don't love you but I always will

Oh I don't love you but I always will

I always will

-_Poison & Wine _by The Civil Wars

* * *

The bell at the bank annoyed Betty as it cheerfully announced her entrance. She felt the stares from the cashiers as she crossed across the room and headed towards the back offices. They use to smile and greet her, but now they just stood silent as she passed. She wondered if it was because they all thought she was a murderer or because they knew what she was here for.

It had been some time since she had been there. After she had gotten out, she couldn't bring herself to come do what needed to be done, but here she was now, ready to close her account and apologize for going back on her word.

She looked into Mrs. Abbott's office and noticed she wasn't in her office; her shoulders slumped as she sat down in the wooden chairs just outside it. Just what she wanted, to delay the act even longer. She just wanted to get it over with. As humiliating as it was to default on her loan, the idea of not coming by to apologize for mucking up her good standing financial credibility seemed wrong to her. Plus, she was ready to put a fork in the pipe dream of owning a home one-day. It was time to face reality and the judgmental glare of Mrs. Abbott and admit defeat.

Betty ignored the creaking of the chair as she shifted uncomfortably and looked across the room to the big window where she could see Gladys standing outside having a smoke. She sighed heavily. It seemed even the perpetuity optimistic Gladys knew this was something she needed to do alone.

"Why, Ms. McRae, what a pleasant surprise!"

Betty looked up, taken back at the casual greeting as the female banker approached her.

"Um, hi," she said, standing up nervously. She gripped her purse and squared her shoulders as she turned to face the other woman. "I'm here about my loan."

"Of course you are," the woman smiled as she held her arm out, gesturing Betty to step inside her office. "Please, come on in."

Betty nodded as she passed her by and sat heavily in the chair in front of the banker's desk. Here comes the judgment, she thought to herself. She wondered how long it would take for the "you need a husband to take care of you" speech to be trotted out.

"Before we get down to business, tell me, how was your trip?" The older woman asked as she rounded her desk and sat down behind it.

"Trip?" Betty repeated, blinking hard in confusion.

"Yes, I hope it was a good one. It was awfully smart of you to have your friend drop off your loan payment every week. You've almost saved up enough for that home now."

"My friend?" Betty asked, dumbstruck.

"Yes, always so friendly, she said you were taking care of a sick relative. I trust they're better now?"

"My friend did that, did she?" Betty said as things were beginning to make sense. She turned and looked out the big window again where Gladys patiently waited outside. No wonder she didn't want to come inside. She didn't want to be there when Betty found out she'd been paying her loan without her knowledge and blew her top over it. It sounded just like her to stick her nose where it didn't belong and throw her money around to save her tail once again.

"Oh, Witham, what am I going to do with you now?" Betty muttered as she watched the other girl flick her cigarette away outside.

"Miss Gladys Witham, the one who came with you the first time?" Mrs. Abbott asked, shaking her head. "No, I don't ever recall her coming by. I would remember that face considering you can't open a kitchen pantry without seeing it these days."

Turning back, Betty's brow furrowed as a cold recognition slid through her.

"Let's see here," Mrs. Abbott said as she opened a desk drawer and pulled out a leather bound bankers book. She placed it on her desk and began flipping through it. "It was another girl who had the most beautiful hair… Ah, here we go!"

She flipped the book around to Betty's side of the desk. Betty held her breath as she leaned in to look, but let it out slowly as she saw the pages were filled with receipts with her bank account number and the same initials signed by it over and over again. The last one signed just three days ago.

The banker's nonchalant voice broke the silence.

"Do the initials K.A. mean anything to you?"

* * *

Kate closed her door behind her and climbed onto the bed to sit Indian style in front of Reggie. She was glad to have a night off from the nightclub and even more happy that she wouldn't have to spend it alone in her room. She felt like things were beginning to get better in her life. After the awful events of her mother's failed dinner, Gladys began coming by to visit her at the night club or to sit with her on Sunday afternoons as she worked on that weeks sewing. The tight weight she had felt pressing down on her chest seemed to feel just a bit lighter and for that, she was grateful and, more importantly, hopeful. Maybe life was starting to get back to normal, well almost normal. There were still some oddities in her life.

"So tell me again why we have to hide away in my room to play cards?" Kate asked as she watched the other girl shuffle the deck of cards in her hands.

"We're not hiding. I thought it might be nice to have a quiet game just the two of us."

Kate smiled knowingly as Reggie dealt the cards between them.

"You just don't want to play with Moira cause you always loose to her."

"No one can be that good at gin rummy! I swear she cheats. Last week, I lost half the rent when she went on a bender."

"So is this like a wounded ego thing?" Kate teased.

"More like self-preservation," Reggie laughed, looking down at her cards. "Now come on Red, lets go, I've got rent money to score back."

Kate smiled and shook her head as she looked at her hand. She knew her friend really didn't need the rent money; Mrs. Corbett would never throw the girl out for it. She just used it as an excuse to spare them both from of another lonely night. Just as Kate was about to make the first move, her door flew open causing both girls to jump as it slammed against Kate's dresser with enough force to shake the walls of the room. Betty barged in as Reggie yelped at the sudden intrusion.

"Jeez Louise, Betty!" Kate exclaimed, clutching her chest. "You scared the living daylights out of us."

"Yeah, McRae," Reggie scoffed, looking back at the blonde behind her with crazed wonder. "Way to shave a year off my life there."

"Shove it, Reggie." Betty gritted out.

"Betty!" Kate said, taken back by her former best friend's angry glare and attitude.

"You had no right to do this!" Betty yelled, pointing angrily at Kate.

"Wha…I don't...don't know…" Kate stuttered.

Betty cut her off, clinching the papers in her left hand. "You think you're helping? You're not. It was my business. Not yours. So do us both a favor and just stay the hell out of it!"

She then flung the papers at them and stormed out, slamming the door once more as the papers fluttered around the shocked girls. Reggie snatched one of the strips up as they landed in front of her. Kate immediately knew what they were. She had seen them every week for the past 6 months.

"Well, somebody's flipped her wig," Reggie said, looking over the paper in hand. "I mean, who does…"

Kate jumped up suddenly and followed Betty's hasty retreat across the hall as she flung Betty's door open and then barged into the other girl's room, slamming the door behind her.

"…that." Reggie finished, now alone in the room.

* * *

Kate stood just inside Betty's room. The furthest she had been inside it in months.

"I only did what I thought was best." Kate tried, her voice restrained as she tried to control her rising emotions.

"Yeah, aren't you always?" Betty retorted, pacing back in forth in front of her bed.

"Look, I was trying to respect your wishes…"

"Ha!" Betty mocked, turning back and forth sharply. "Wishes, well, Kate. Haven't you heard, if fishes were wishes, we'd all have a fry!"

"Betty, I was only trying…"

"I never asked you to pay my loan! That was my responsibility. I never asked for your help!"

Kate watched as Betty paced back and forth, never looking up as if she couldn't stand the sight of her standing in her room. She felt her cheeks burn as her own anger bubbled to the surface.

"I guess the view from this side of the road isn't so scenic now, is it?"

Betty stopped at the cold edge in Kate's voice and looked over at her finally.

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?"

"Having someone take something for you," She said, her voice low, but becoming stronger with each syllable. "Rob you of your choice. Your responsibility! No... no I wouldn't know anything about having to sit and watch someone do something for you that you never asked for!"

"It's not the same," Betty shrugged, turning to pace back and forth again.

Kate scoffed and shook her head.

"Are you mad because someone decided to save your tail… or because _I _was the one doing the saving for once?!"

* * *

Reggie came out of Kate's room and stopped in the hallway when she saw Gladys leaning against the wall leading to the foyer with her arms crossed. Gladys nodded her hello.

"Ruined card game," Reggie simply said, tilting her head to the room their friends had left them behind for. "You?"

"Dinner and a picture show."

Looking at the closed door where the increasingly louder voices began to drift from, Reggie turned to Gladys. "Is this the normal routine?"

"You mean the fireworks and show?" Gladys asked. "No, they usually have more of a ignore and avoid it style. They're just… it's…"

"Complicated?" Reggie finished for her. "Yeah, that's Red's usual party line."

Gladys watched as the other girl walked up to the closed door and turned her head to put her ear against it.

"Reggie, I don't think that's quite proper…"

"Shhh," Reggie whispered loudly, turning her head towards Gladys and listened more intently. "They just said your name."

"My name?" Gladys asked, standing straight. "Why on earth is my name coming into this…"

She quickly made her way beside Reggie and pressed her ear to the door.

* * *

"What does Gladys have to do with this?" Kate demanded.

"I'd expect this from her! She always thinks she can play the hero and save the day with a smile and the flash of Daddy Witham's money belt."

"And thank God for that or you'd still be sitting in a cell."

"Don't you mean both of us Kate? You sure didn't mind taking a Witham handout when it got you out of hot water!"

Kate's lips tightened at the harsh tone.

"I plan to repay her back one day for all she's done for me… for us!"

"Oh, just speak for yourself. And while you're at it, go and _try your best _with her. She's always itching to take up a charity case to boost her ego!"

* * *

"Well!" Gladys scoffed, whispering loudly to Reggie. "That was hardly called for!"

Reggie bit her lip to hide her smile as they both turned their attention back to the two on the other side of the door.

* * *

"I wasn't about to let you throw away your dream home because of me!"

"It wasn't your dream to protect in the first place!" Betty threw back.

"And it wasn't your punishment to take! Do you know what it's like… to know your best friend is going to hang for you? To carry that around every single day!"

"Can't say that I do seeing as though I was so busy taking the fall for you… so you could what… go sing at the Jewel Box and never show an ounce of care while I waited for that noose?"

"It was never like that. I never… you have no idea how much I cared… how much I've tried to do right by you!"

Betty stopped, something finally dawning on her as she looked around her room.

"My room…" she said, turning to Kate with fresh anger. "Vera and I were wrong... Gladys wasn't the one who saved it. She didn't talk Mrs. Gruton into keeping it free for me, did she?"

"I made sure your room would be open when you got out. Mrs. Gruton doesn't give a flip if you murdered my father or not… all she cares about is the 15-dollar weekly lodging payment and a decent incentive. I made sure you'd have a place to come back to."

"So you paid my loan fees, my room fees…" Betty said, her mind whirling as she thought of Kate working night and day the last several months. "…You've been killing yourself working every job under the sun all this time because of guilt? Oh, you shouldn't have Kate. You really shouldn't have."

"Why, because you've been doing such a glorious job of taking care of things yourself?"

Kate shook her head and looked down at the floor before walking towards Betty, stopping right in front of her, she looked up and locked eyes with the girl who was so close that she could feel her breath fan across her neck, sending chills down her arms.

"You think you're handling things so well," Kate said lowly. Betty's eyes flickered from the words coming out of her perfect mouth back to the eyes that seem to flare with every word she spoke. "You miss work and the days you do come in your either late, half drunk, or walk around like some robot. Mrs. Corbett doesn't even understand it, because you use to love working at VicMu. You were the first one on the streetcar to go in the mornings and the last one to leave the line at the end of the day. You loved making a difference. I know you, Betty. I know you use to love it."

"Yeah, well I use to love a lot of things." Betty muttered, turning her face to the side in order to break the connection Kate's eyes made with hers.

Kate felt the words cut deep, causing her to take a step back at their ugly truth.

"Yeah, I guess Arlene is enough to fill the void now, huh?"

"I think it's time you leave."

* * *

Vera walked around the corner and stepped in between the row of undergarments strewn across the hallway and found Gladys and Reggie pressed against Betty's door, listening carefully.

"What on earth…" She said with raised eyebrows.

"Shhh!" Both girls hushed in unison.

Vera looked to the room they were so focused on and heard the murmured voices of her two friends.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, clasping her hands together. "Are those two crazy kids finally talking to each other again? It's about time!"

"I'm not sure talking would be the correct term," Gladys said from her spot by the door.

"Well, I don't care if they're hashing it out or planning their siege on Berlin," Vera replied. "A world where those two are talking again just seems to make life a little more bearable."

"Oh, oh!" Reggie said, shooing Gladys forward. "Here they come, scoot your caboose!"

Vera watched with amusement as both girls scrambled past the door and tried to look innocent as Reggie skidded to a stop and leaned against the wall, as if she'd been there the whole time, while Gladys suddenly found Ruby's underthings hanging on the line incredibly interesting. Vera turned back to the voices inside the room as Betty's door flew open.

"If you want to continue and waste your time… to throw the life away that you've worked so hard to build … by all means do!" Kate gritted out coming through the door. She turned one last time to Betty who had followed her to the door. "…this time it's all you though! It's on your dime!"

"Good! Glad you finally get that!" Betty replied harshly before slamming her door shut again.

Vera watched as Kate stomped across the hallway without even noticing the three of them watching her cross. She slammed her door shut behind her as well, sending another shock wave through the building. All three girls stood still as the boarding house fell into silence once more.

"Annnd the saga continues…" Vera sighed. Looking at the other two who seemed to be at a lost of words, she bid them a good night. "Well this gal needs her beauty sleep."

Gladys watched as Vera made her way down the hallway towards her room. She turned to Reggie and contemplated the night they just had.

"You know, I'm so starved I think I could eat a moose. How about we not let this night go to a complete waste and grab some grub?"

Reggie smiled and nodded her head, "I think Mrs. Rosa's Café stays open late these days for the red shift."

"Sounds like a plan."

Both girls started down the hallway, both knowing they had witnessed a lot that night.

Reggie turned and regarded Gladys beside her as they walked out. Before now, she hadn't much interaction with the high society girl.

"So Witham…." She started, as Gladys turned to her. "… just how rich are you?"

Gladys looked down at the shorter girl with surprise. "Pardon?"

"I'm just sayin' if you ever wanna play cards… spread the wealth by loosing…I could help with that," Reggie quipped.

Gladys laughter echoed down the hallway as they made their way towards the front door.


	10. Chapter 10

This is the way it end

This is my life begins

If this the way it ends

Nothing is meaningless

There'll be no compromise

We fall in we too shall rise again

This is the way it ends

-_This is the way it ends _by Landon Pigg

* * *

Kate made her way across the factory floor. One of her duties in the lab was to pick up bomb sets for testing. Today's assigned bomb set just happened to be next to Betty's station. It was her old station. Kate took this as a sign. Yesterday, she had been so hopeful that things were getting better. Then Betty found out her big secret and things went downhill quickly.

She had stayed up the whole night going over their argument in her head. Replaying word for word and blow by blow. She had regretted her words. She knew her friend wasn't keen on taking handouts and her pride had been battered enough over the last year, so the idea of anyone paying on her dream house when she couldn't manage to do it herself would have felt like one more slap she couldn't bare. She should have been more sensitive to that, instead she had said awful things and made things worse between them. And killed her newfound hope in the process.

She wondered if Betty regretted any of the things she had said. Kate had to admit that Betty's words had rumbled through her head throughout the night as well. Her statement that indicated that she didn't love her anymore had been a blow she didn't expect. She couldn't stop thinking about it. How did things get this far out of hand? Did Betty really feel this way? And why did it make her feel so… empty?

She had to do something. She didn't want to feel like this anymore. She wanted her hope back, not this hollow shell her life had become since Betty had turned herself in for her. She had to make things right again.

"Betty?" She said timidly, walking up to her amatol pouring station- to the place where Betty had given her a second chance. Where it had all begun.

The blonde looked up, her expression unreadable. Kate bit her lip nervously at the task before her.

"I'm sorry for what happened last night and for everything that's happened really…" Kate began, her hands fretting with the cuffed sleeves of her coveralls.

"A little late for that, don't you think?" Betty interrupted, her jaw tight as she poured the amatol into the bombshells in front of her.

Kate blinked hard at the cold edge in her once best friend's voice.

"You're just cruisin' for a bruisin', aren't you?" Arlene's voice barked out as she walked up behind Betty. "You here to stir up more trouble for Betty?"

"No, of course not," Kate said, shaking her head desperately. "It's the last thing that I want to do."

"Forgive me if I don't believe what you're preaching considering your track record," Arlene shot back.

Kate looked back at Betty who kept her focus on the task in front of her.

"Arlene, I just want to talk Betty for a moment. And this doesn't really involve you, so if you could please kindly give us a moment…"

"A moment? So you can, what? Call her another lazy drunk? Hurt her some more? Don't you think you've done enough already?"

"That's enough." Betty gritted out, turning back to Arlene behind her. "I've got this."

Arlene looked down at her and reached out to place her hand on Betty's shoulder. "I'm just trying to look out for you."

"It's okay," Betty pulled her shoulder away from her touch. "Go finish your bomb set out."

"Fine," Arlene rolled her eyes as she turned away. "Just don't come crying to me when she breaks your heart again."

Kate watched the other girl walk back to her bomb set on the table behind Betty and swallowed hard at the other girl's implication.

"Betty," Her voice pleaded. "I am sorry for everything… I just want to make things right again."

"Can we not do this now?"

Kate had to get it out though. It had waited long enough.

"I just want to say though that I never meant to hurt you by paying on your loan. I just didn't want your dream home to default because of me. Or for you to loose your room while you were… away."

"I wasn't away at some sleep camp, Kate." Betty gritted out, shaking her head as she wiped amatol away from the shell casings.

"I know," Kate whispered.

"So you what? Decided to take pity on me so you wouldn't feel so guilty?" Betty looked up briefly, her eyes blazing with anger. "Next time do us both a favor and please spare me the trouble. I don't need your pity."

"That's not what I meant… my words always come out all jumbled. It's just… I want you to get that home one day. You deserve that home or a warm room in the safety of the boarding house until you're ready for that home. You deserve so much more than what you've been given lately."

"How about you not tell me what I deserve? You have no idea what it took to survive in there. What you have to do to get you through the day in that place. My mistake was thinking that it would stop once I was free. That doesn't make me a lazy drunk, it makes me human."

Kate nodded as a wave of sadness washed over her from the sound of Betty's desperate voice. "I regret what I said last night. I didn't mean to make you feel like that… I regret so much."

"Well, that makes two of us. I regret not popping Donald in the mouth this morning for his usual numbskull wisecracks, or for believing Gladys when she said it would get better eventually, and some days, I regret giving people second chances after they almost blow us all up on their first day."

Kate felt like she had been struck. Betty's words left its mark as she took them in with a shaky breath. Kate's eyes flickered over to her old spot on the line right by Betty, the station where she had almost blown them up on her first day at the factory. The spot where Betty had spared her from a firing and instead helped guide her uneasy hands to a better way of pouring, to a better life.

"Careful kid, you might actually show an emotion," Arlene's voice broke in once again.

Kate looked to the other girl, who was holding out her finished bomb set for her to take. It was what had brought her over here with hope, now it was what would take her away with such heartache.

Wordlessly, Kate reached out and took the tray and turned to walk back to the lab.

* * *

Betty's hands shook as she poured the amatol in front of her, causing the liquid to dribble out and onto the side of the canister of the bombshell.

"Damn it," She grumbled under her breath. Why had she just said those things to Kate? Why did everything inside her hurt all the time making her feel like she could scream? And why did her mouth have to always shoot off when she felt cornered?

Closing her eyes, she set the canister down and breathed in slowly. All she could see was Kate's expression as she had thrown those hurtful words at her. Was that how she looked when her father use to do such awful things? Like she had just taken a blow to the face? Maybe to the heart even?

She opened her eyes and watched Kate walk away. The sight made her heart ache once more, a feeling she should be use to by now, but it somehow felt fresh every single time. She thought of calling out to her friend, to call her back, take her hand, and apologize… it use to be so easy. She'd say she was a clot, Kate would give her those eyes that made her knees go weak, and all would be swell, but the words caught in her throat now.

She gritted her teeth as she picked up her canister once more and watched Kate's slow stagger disappear behind the lab's double doors without looking back.

"She's got some nerve," Arlene griped beside her. "After what all she said to you last night… "

"Don't." Betty warned, holding up her hand to the other girl. "Just, can you not do that?"

Arlene rolled her eyes. "Boy, you're in a splendid mood."

* * *

Kate slipped through the double doors of the lab's corridor and made her way into the lab. Reggie was already there writing down measurements of the deadly fluid in front of her.

"Hey Red," the younger girl greeted without looking up. "Will you be working at the Jewel Box tonight? I hear they have a jazz band coming from my old neck of the woods…"

She looked up when she noticed the lack of response from her friend and found Kate looking pale and near tears as she placed her crate down on the table between them.

"What's wrong?"

Kate shook her head, trying to shake away her unusual show of emotions. "Just a rough morning is all. I'll be fine."

"Was it that Arlene again?" Reggie asked, annoyance filling her voice. "I swear that kook has some nerve."

Kate looked down, trying unsuccessfully to rain in her emotions. "No, I think I've just come to the conclusion that some cuts may be too deep to ever heal properly."

Reggie's brow furrowed in confusion, but she knew enough to not ask for more. Instead she took the case Kate placed down and slid it down to the end of the table, the canisters clinking along the way.

"You should probably go gather yourself before the Warden makes his appearance," Reggie said, going back to her clipboard.

They both knew their cantankerous new supervisor, Henry Jenkins, would not put up with anyone standing around threating to burst into tears. He was a nice enough man, but he was no Lorna Corbett. Kate knew any sign of emotions from the women of the factory would only affirm the belief they didn't belong there.

"I'll take care of your casing," Reggie assured as Kate nodded her thanks and slipped out of the room just as Donald and Henry walked into the lab pushing dollies of bomb crates.

She leaned against the wall in the small corridor between the lab and the factory floor and willed herself not to let the tears fall. She learned long ago that she could hold her emotions in check when her life depended on it, but as Betty's words rang out in her head once again, the tears fell anyways.

She was foolish to think she could offer a peace offering to make things better. Too much had happened. Her mistakes had caused too much damage. Her worst fears were true. Betty hated her. Why did the world feel like it was ending?

* * *

"I don't know why you're so hung up on what she thinks," Arlene said from her spot by Betty's station. "This whole rigmarole dance you two seem to be endlessly trapped in is getting old. I mean, what's the point?"

"Look," Annoyed, Betty heavily sat her amatol canister on the table behind them before turning back to the other girl. "I just..."

She didn't get to finish her sentence because the world exploded in front them. It was the loudest noise Betty had ever heard before. So loud, so powerful, she felt the concussion as the wave swept across the room, throwing bricks, empty bomb shelling, and workers across the room.

For Betty, it felt like the whole factory lifted right off the ground as the world erupted violently around her and she was blown backwards with rocks and dirt following her path. It all happened so fast, yet Betty felt like she was slowly freefalling as she fell heavily to floor.

The wind was knocked out from her lungs as she slid backwards, glass and rocks grinding into her arms as she skidded across the floor. When she stopped and opened her eyes again, she was lying on the floor, dust and smoke enveloping the factory floor like a thick, smothering blanket. For a moment, there was a strange, unfamiliar silence.

Betty's mind was still reeling from the powerful wave that threw her backwards, but movement beside her caught her attention as she looked over and saw Arlene sitting up on the floor beside her… she looked terrified. She was screaming about something, but Betty couldn't hear anything coming from her mouth. The other girl's blue bandana was askew on her head from the impact and she briefly thought about how would not pass Mrs. Corbett's dress inspection with it like that.

She blinked several times and noticed Arlene was yelling something at her again, but still no sound was coming from her mouth. She fleetingly wondered if she'd gone deaf, but then suddenly, as if on cue, a low ringing began to rise in her ears, until it was so loud, it reverberated against her eardrums.

She jumped when Edith ran up behind her and grabbed her arms, pulling her from her shocked stupor. Betty shook her head, trying to clear the confusion and the damn ringing in her ears. Edith was also yelling something to them both. This time her voice sounded distant like she was in a hole, the ringing was still so loud in her ears.

"We gotta…" She heard Edith's frantic voice say as it came in and out. "….Gonna Blow!"

Betty realized the ringing wasn't just her ears though – it was also the sound from the factory's alarm system.

…Alarm system.

Gonna Blow….

The words settled in the pit of her stomach as Betty felt the terrifying realization roll through her. She shakily sat up, grabbing desperately onto Edith as she turns, hoping to not see what she thinks has happened. The noises and smell begin to invade her senses.

She looks across the factory she knows like the back of her hand and yet, she doesn't recognize the sight before her. Her ears begin to clear as she hears other girls crying and coughing while the smoke and dust floated heavily in the large room. She watched as Margaret and Janet stumbled towards the factory's back door… its emergency exit. Betty looked past the fleeing workers though; desperately searching for a sight she was looking towards only seconds ago.

Through the thick smoke, she searches for where the lab doors should be… Where were they? It didn't make sense, the noises, the sulfur taste in the air, the feel of the rocks and glass grinding into her hands as she crawled to her knees, desperately searching for the doors she had seen Kate walk through only moments ago… She had to find those doors…

The doors leading to the canteen were still there. The stairs leading to the administrative offices were badly warped, swaying from side to side, but they were still there. But the lab doors… just to the right of the stairs… where were they?

"Oh, God." Betty croaked out, now on her feet and stumbling towards where the doors should be. "Oh, God."

She heard both Edith and Arlene call out behind her, but she was already on her way towards the area with the thickest smoke. She was going against the current, bumping into fleeing workers as she tried to get past them. They were just as frantic and desperate in movement as she was, but they were going the opposite direction.

She finally made her way to the spot she last saw Kate and looked in despair. The wall had fallen down. The roof was caved in and where once stood the entrance to the lab, only laid a labyrinth of twisted metal and broken bricks. It seemed like a mountain to her.

Marco was already there. Pulling bricks off the large mound of debris. Without a word spoken, she joined him, desperately pulling off large blocks of concrete from the pile.

"Please, be okay, please," she began repeating.

"You two!" Lorna yelled, running up beside them and coughing as the dust began to settle more. "You know the protocol. We must exit the building now!"

Marco stopped briefly, looking up at her as he threw another brick away. "There are people in there!"

Betty never let up as she scrambled up the pile and began pulling bolder size pieces of the wall away.

"We wont do them any good if we do something to ignite another explosion!" Lorna exclaimed, trying to yell above the alarms while watching Betty's desperate attempt. As hard as Betty was working to clear the pile, she wasn't even making a dent in the debris, leading Lorna to wonder if the younger girl had even heard a word she had said.

"I'm not leaving them behind," Marco said, turning towards the pile behind him. Lorna grabbed him by the arm, catching his attention as he looked down and saw the desperation in her eyes.

"I can't do my job with the two of you here. Once we're outside, we can assess the situation and get the proper help to them."

He set his jaw and looked ready to turn towards the pile again when Lorna's grip tightened on his arm, pulling his attention back to her pleading expression.

"Please."

"Fine," He relented. "Betty, we'll come back when it's safe!"

Betty never stopped, pulling with all her might on a large piece of metal that was twisted around chunks of fallen wall.

"Please be okay. Please be okay."

Lorna and Marco looked at each other, both knowing what had to be done.

Marco cautiously made his way up the unstable debris and took Betty by the arm to lead her back down, but she flailed away, causing her to stumble and fall onto the twisted web of destruction. She sat up trying to pull more bricks away, but Marco hauled her to her feet, pulling her away from the debris once more. He grunted as she began to yell and buck drastically against his tight grip around her arms while dragging her backwards.

"Noo! Kate!" She screamed, trying to break loose, causing Marco to stumble. "Nooo!"

Lorna ran up and grabbed the free arm that Betty had managed to wrench from Marco's hold and helped pull her backwards. With Marco on one side and Lorna on the other, they hauled Betty away from the destruction as her feet skidded wildly across the floor, desperately trying to get back to where the lab doors should be.

"Kate!" Her deep sob echoed across the factory as Marco and Lorna doggedly pulled her towards safety. She watched as the carnage of the lab disappeared into the fog of smoke and dust once again.

"…Kate…"


	11. Chapter 11

Right in front of me  
Taking me astray  
Are you leaving me?  
Or are you leading the way?  
Can you hear what I'm saying?  
_-I Need To Know _by Kris Allen

* * *

Kate's eyes fluttered open as she coughed and felt the dust around her scatter from her exhale of breath. It was pitch black dark and she felt herself pinned to the floor face down while her head spun out of control, leaving her feeling nauseous and unsettled.

Something had hit her from behind. Was it her father? Did he hit her with his belt, no something harder… maybe the iron? The darkness made her think she was back on the closet floor of their old trailer as she tried to listen for the angry footsteps of her approaching father, but she sluggishly realized that the only thing that greeted her was the whirling deafness of her own ears as they rang loudly.

Her senses slowly began to come back as she sucked in a shaky breath of air, sending her into coughing spell. Her nose and throat burned telling her the air was thick with dust as it filled her lungs. The hard ground beneath her was not the cold linoleum of her old home, but the concrete floors of the factory. Her father wasn't going to come out of the darkness, because he was dead. She knew this because she had been there when his life simply ended with a dull thump on a cold winters night.

How did she end up on the factory floor when she had been standing only moments ago? She tried to slowly turn her head to see what was keeping her trapped to the floor, but when she began to move, sharp searing pains shot through her body and the world began its topsy turvy plummet once more. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to still every agonizing nerve in her body as the room spun on.

She would not throw up. She would not throw up.

She gritted her teeth and willed the world to slow its sickening spirals while her mind whirled for the reasoning of her current predicament. She had to start small. She moved her fingers, flexing them out then back in as she tested out their use. She stiffly pulled her arm closer to her chest, her arm scrapping against glass and rocks along the way, adding to the abrasions that were already speckled across her arm. Satisfied that the movement hadn't sent her body into paralyzing pain again, she lifted her arm up to feel the pressing confines above her. It was the wood paneling of the lab.

That's right, she had been leaning against the lab's outer wall in the hallway when whatever happened must have knocked her down. With a grunt she pushed against the heavy structure giving her enough room to use her other arm to turn herself over onto her side. She lay there as the world went into another nose spiral, but at least she had her bearings again. After a moment, she reached out to pull herself from beneath what was left of the wall and lay there breathing hard once she was free from the confining structure. She patted down the front of her chest, arms, and legs- mentally checking for injuries in a way she was all too familiar with. The shooting pain in her ribs reminded her of a time gone by.

She then lifted her hand to where her hairline began and felt a wetness that was surely blood, explaining why her mind was telling her she was on the world's worst fair ride. Blinking hard, her eyes began to adjust to the darkness. She noticed that rubble was all around her. Her ears were the next thing to slowly clear as the deafening ringing gave way to the sound of the factory's alarm that sounded so far away.

The distant scream of the alarm did its duty as Kate sat up suddenly and realized the frightening meaning of its warning. Her reeling head was to be damned as she crawled onto all fours and turned towards the factory.

"Betty." Kate gasped out.

If the alarm was going off that meant either a bomb had exploded or an invading army had dropped bombs onto the factory itself. She couldn't sit still any longer as she began to crawl over the remnants of the hallway in front of her. She had to make it to Betty. She had to be okay.

Once over the rubble in front of her, she was greeted with more wood paneling, metal, and brick mortar from what was left of the foyer she had been standing in before the explosion. The doors were crushed underneath the fallen roof. She was currently hunched in what seemed to be a small pocket of open space amongst the fallen building around her. She tried pulling some of the debris away, only for the roof to shudder and fall in even more, sending Kate scrambling back.

Tears began to sting her eyes as she looked hopelessly at the tangled entrapment before her. It would be impossible to get out that way. The fastest way to safety, to Betty, was blocked by an impenetrable mountain from the broken factory's remains. Her head was spinning again, but this time for a different reason.

She would not throw up. She would not throw up.

"Help! Is anyone out there?!"

Kate turned towards the strained, panicked voice coming from the darkness behind her. She had forgotten about the lab.

"Reggie!" She called out.

She crawled back over the fallen wall and saw the blocked doorway into the lab. More rubble. She looked to the left and noticed that the interior window of the lab had been blown out. Being cautious of the broken glass around it, she carefully crawled through it. She was not prepared for the sight of the room she had just previously been in.

It was clear that the explosion had happened here. The room was no longer a room, but large piles of twisted metal and bricks that fanned out indicating the blast site. The smoke was beginning to clear out as she heard the voice in the darkness call out again.

"Help, please, someone help me…"

Kate crawled under a large beam and over what was left of the heavy steel table that was once bolted to the lab's far wall. There wasn't enough room to even stand in as she weaved through twisted metal towards the frightened voice. Once over the pile of rubble in front of her, she saw what was left as the fallen lights as they swung from side to side, casting an eerie balance of light and shadows across the devastated room. The dim light gave off just enough to see that it was Donald who had been calling out.

He was lying on the ground, clutching his right leg, which had a large gash that started close to his pelvis and stretched down to just above his knee. She noticed the cut was deep and blood was splattered all around him signifying the direction of the blast. She also noticed his left forearm was angled awkwardly indicating a break, as he desperately grasped at his disfigured leg.

"Donald," Kate whispered. She knew he didn't have much time if she didn't do something soon.

"Oh God," Donald bellowed out. "Kate, is that you? Help me. Please."

Kate swallowed hard as she looked down at the injured man. This man who once held her down and threatened to sexually assault her. He seemed so helpless now, like an injured dog on the side of the road.

She shook herself out of her thoughts and scrambled over to him. He looked up at her with wide eyes fresh with fear and pain.

"Please, help me."

Kate nodded and looked down at his leg. She knew how to handle this. Triage assessment. Treat the most urgent wound first.

"Take off your belt." Kate said quickly while unbuttoning the top of her coveralls.

Donald looked back up at her with crazed wonder. "What? Dollface, this is no time for come ons…"

"Just do it!" Kate snapped, pushing herself out of the top of her white coverall and ripping into what was once its sleeve. At least the blast had torn into the cloth enough to allow her to easily strip the tough fabric for makeshift bandages. She noticed her blouse underneath her coverall was ripped and dirty also, which was a shame because it had been her favorite. Betty had told her on her third day at the factory that the green fabric made her eyes stand out.

With his one good arm, Donald followed her orders and began to fumble with the plastic belt buckle. They were the only types of belts men were allowed to wear on the floor. Kate thought that a leather, metal kind of belt would have worked better, but the cloth one would have to do for now.

Seeing him struggle with the buckle with his one shaky hand, Kate didn't hesitate as she took over the task by pulling the belt from its loops in one smooth swoop. She always thought when the time came to take someone else clothes off she'd be a jumble of nerves.

She took the makeshift bandages she had made from her sleeve and pressed them to the gushing leg wound. She pressed down with all her might as she felt around for a certain point in the wound.

Donald howled out in pain as Kate methodically searched the wound. So much blood was gushing out, but she knew she had to find its source. Her hands were shaking as she heard the blood make a sickening squishing sound as she pressed on with her urgent search. Just as Donald looked ready to pass out from the pain, she felt the pulsating spot she was looking for and quickly stuffed the bandages over the spot while at the same time pressing down with all her might. With her other arm, she took the belt and wrapped it tightly around his leg and then using the large chunk of fallen wall beside them as leverage, she pulled the belt tight with all her strength and tied it down into the best knot she could make.

She looked down at Donald who had fallen silent and pale. Shakily she sat back and pushed the hair that had fallen down into her face, smearing Donald's dark blood across her forehead. She looked back down at her handy work. No blood seemed to be coming from the wound. It had worked it seemed.

She looked back up at Donald, who was lying in a stilled shock.

"Hey, look at me," she said assertively "You're going to be okay. Just don't move."

The larger man nodded, looking up at Kate with new respect. She had to help his arm. She needed some kind of splint the keep him from moving it much. She began to look around for a broken piece of wood or metal piece among the rubble, but stopped when she heard another moan come from just below the fallen wall behind her.

"Reggie?" Kate called out once more, straining her ears in hopes of hearing her friend. After a moment, she heard her name come from beneath the rubble.

"Kate?" the weak voice called out. Kate clambered over the debris to an area where it looked like the back wall had fallen with large steel beams crisscrossing over the jumbled mess.

Lying on the ground, she peered under the rubble into the darkness. The faint orange light above them didn't give enough light to reach into the rubble where she had heard her friend's voice call out.

"Reggie? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

Kate saw the younger girl's head move as she tried shifting it towards her and let out a shaky breath as she saw the top of Reggie's dark hair.

"I think I'm okay. I just can't really move…I think the damn wall fell on me."

"Yeah," Kate chuckled, happy to know her friend was okay. "I think the whole damn factory fell on us."

"No kidding. See if you can get me out?"

Kate sat up looking at the daunting task of moving the heavy concrete slabs pinning the girl down. If that weren't enough trouble, the steel beams on top of the thick slabs would prove to be impossible to move. She first tried pushing and pulling on the large slabs, but nothing budged.

"What's going on over there?" Donald called out from the other side of the pile of rubble where she had left him lying on the ground.

"It's Reggie," Kate said, searching for something to help her move the rubble. "She's trapped under the fallen wall."

"You'll never get her out," Donald said, looking in between the twisted wreckage to watch Kate. "You're just a girl. That wall must be several hundred pounds worth of concrete."

"Oh shove it, Donald!" Reggie yelled out from beneath the rubble. "If we want a pinhead's perspective, we'll ask for it!"

Kate couldn't help the small smile as she listened to her plucky friend. She wasn't letting some minor thing like a wall falling on her keep her down… at least, not figuratively.

"Where's Mr. Jenkins?" Reggie asked, suddenly. "He'll know what to do."

Kate looked around the rubble for the older man, but the pale light above them only casted long shadows over the wreckage with no sign of their supervisor in sight. No help. No guidance. Just the muffled sound of the wailing alarm of the factory floor behind them greeted them.

"What do you think happened?" Reggie asked, quietly. "Think it was a bad bomb?"

"Maybe it was sabotage," Donald said, his voice straining. "Wouldn't 'prise me if Hitler himself ordered it. Taking the war across the pond and all that."

"Yeah, I'm sure the Von Fuhur spends all his days thinking of small war factories in Canada in between tea time and blitzkreiging the hell out of things," Reggie quipped from the rubble.

Kate smiled at the exchange but stayed silent as she scooted over to the far end of the room after seeing the piping of what had once been the crate lift. Luckily enough for them, the blast had blown the hauler apart leaving about a 4-foot section of its steel pole left for Kate to use. She picked the heavy piece of iron up and began dragging it back to her friend when something caught her eye to her left and gasped at the sight.

"What is it?"

Kate swallowed hard at the sound of the panicked question from her friend.

"Nothing… it's just," She tried, calmly. "Found Mr. Jenkins."

She started towards the rubble where her friend lay as she turned away from what was left of her supervisor. She tried not to think of his open skull or the fact that he no longer had legs.

"Oh," Reggie said simply, knowing it was best to not ask for any more information.

"Here," Kate said as she made it back to her friend. "I found a pole. I'll try to wedge it and lift some of the concrete off of you enough to see if you can scoot out."

"Never gonna work," Donald's voice came out from the darkness.

"Shut up, Donald" Both girls snapped in unison.

"Just sayin' you're just wasting your last breath's on movin' a mountain."

Kate ignored him as she wedged the pole underneath the large slab in front of her.

"Okay, on the count of three," She said, stilling herself. "1…2…3!"

Grunting with all her might she pressed down on the pole, trying to budge the heavy concrete. Nothing moved. She shifted over and tried from another angle. Then another, gritting her teeth each time as she pressed down for all she was worth. The wall stood unmoved though.

"See, told you so."

Kate ignored the obnoxious comment as she climbed up on top of the rubble. She hoped the extra weight would not hurt her friend any further. With both hands wrapped around the pole, she slammed it down into a small opening of the cracked wall. Testing its resistance, she began pulling back, her voice raw as she growled and pulled with all her might.

Finally, the pole gave way, sending her flying backwards down the rubble behind her. She landed with a loud thud. She laid their dazed, her head spinning once more and wondered if it had ever stopped reeling. The pain where she landed so hard on her back radiated throughout her body.

"Hey! I can see some light!"

Kate lifted her head at the sound of her friend's excited voice. Sure enough the crack she had been working on was just a bit larger. Jumping up, she grabbed the pole and crawled back up the pile. Looking down the hole she could see the white cloth of Reggie's coveralls.

With renewed hope, she began working on the heavy slab. Trying several different angles, she slowly pushed a small portion of the thick concrete apart. Finally, a chunk of it fell away, revealing Reggie's dirty shoulders and head. The rest of body was still trapped under the wall, but now her head and her right arm was free.

Kate dropped down to the ground beside her friend; chest heaving from exhaustion and her head stinging as sweat mixed with the blood from her gash and rolled down the side of her face.

"Hey there," She smiled down at her friend.

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes," Reggie said shakily, trying not to sound worried.

Kate looked over the younger girls face as she examined a large gash across her forehead. The brow over her left eye was beginning to swell and she could see the beginning of a large bruise spreading down the expansion of her chest where the debris had been before.

"How you feelin'?" Kate asked, tenderly.

"Oh, you know," Reggie tried smiling. "Like a building fell on me."

"Right." Kate nodded, chiding herself for asking such a stupid question.

* * *

Betty watched helplessly as police officers and firemen began pouring onto the grounds as the crowd began to gather in front of the factory. They were now standing across the street, the pre-selected safety zone for such disasters.

"Ladies, step back!" One policeman called out, as two others hauled wooden barricades and placed them down to block the crowd.

Betty didn't move though as they placed the barrier right in front of her. She was lost in her own thoughts. What had just happened? Her mind replayed the last moments before the explosion, the harsh words she had thrown out just before…

She gripped the wooden barricade in front of her, letting its sturdy legs keep her standing upright. Why had she said those things, of course she hadn't meant them. And now…

Now she had to make sure Kate was okay. She had to get back inside to her. Gladys and Vera were nowhere to be found yet either. The last time she saw Gladys was in the dressing rooms before shift and Vera on the streetcar ride to the factory. Could it get any worse? She looked at the police officer as he made his way back down the crowd and directed more barricades to be placed.

She thought about sneaking under one, but a hand landed on her arm.

"Mrs. McRae," Lorna said, gravely. "I do not have time to sit here and make sure you don't do something foolish like trying to run back inside, so you have two choices here."

Betty's eyes stung with tears as she met the older woman's determined gaze.

"You can either wait here until your friends have time to come gather at the safety zone like they know to do, or I can have you arrested if you even step a foot closer to over there."

Betty took in a shaky breath at the older woman's threat. She knew her mentor had gone into emergency plan mode. It was her job to keep her workers safe, no matter at what cost. Even if _over there_ held the most precious people they knew.

"It's your choice," She finished. When Betty nodded her understanding, Lorna gave her arm one finale squeeze before turning to leave.

Betty turned back to the building in front of her. All she had left now was time and the last few moments she saw her friends replaying in her head.

So she waited.


	12. Chapter 12

The time has come, let us be brave...  
Shake off all of your sins, the time has come, let us be brave, let us be brave  
_-The Weight of Us_ by Sanders Bohlke

* * *

Kate was sitting by Reggie's side. She tried searching for ways out to get help, but every dark path led to more twisted rubble that she couldn't get through. She then tried finding holes to climb through, but the tangled remains of the factory made it impossible to squeeze through. Now she sat worrying over the gash on her friend's forehead. She used the other sleeve of her coverall and Reggie's bandanna as a makeshift bandage, but blood was still seeping through at an alarming rate. She needed to somehow close the wound. She looked at her friend once more and noticed her eyes were closed and she was awfully still.

"Reggie!"

The younger girl's eyes snapped open at the sudden call of her name. "Good grief, give me a heart attack why don't you?"

"Sorry," Kate said, embarrassed. "Just don't close your eyes…."

Seeing Reggie's confused look, she continued. "It's just, if you have a head injury, you shouldn't be going to sleep."

Reggie nodded and didn't ask anything else.

"Are the needles for stitching the straps on the bomb containers still kept in the box on the back wall table?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I'm going to try and stitch that nasty looking cut on your forehead. I think I can do a flat stitch to close it up."

"You ever stitched a person before?" Reggie asked, skeptical at the idea.

"No, but I've had plenty of practice with Gladys' accordion pleat dresses."

"Oh, well, in that case…"

Kate gave her a reassuring smile as she tried to stand up as best as she could in the small corridor of fallen debris, as she turned to go she heard Reggie's gasp.

"Kate!"

She snapped around expecting to see Reggie in pain, but found that she was staring straight at her with wide eyes. "What?"

"Your back," Reggie said, straining her neck back to look up at her. "It's… it's…"

Confused, Kate stretched around to find a piece of metal lodged into her skin, just above her hip. She couldn't quite stretch around enough to completely see it, but from what she could tell it was about the size of the expanse of her hand and it jutted out painfully as blood streaked down her back pants leg.

"Well, darn, how'd that get there?"

* * *

"Betty!" Gladys called out, running up to her distraught friend. "Oh, thank God, you're okay."

She took her friend into her arms as Betty fell into the embrace of the taller girl.

"I was down in the basement counting inventory when it happened. And damn if I didn't get lost trying to get out. It's like a maze down there when you think the world is ending."

Gladys felt a shift in the air when she didn't receive the normal quip from her friend, something was wrong. Pulling back to look at her, she could see that Betty's eyes were red from crying and her runny nose and flush face indicated she had been shedding more than just a few tears. She swallowed hard as the sight caused fear to slide through her stomach.

"It's Kate," Betty said, her voice cracking with emotion. "She's still in there."

A new wave of tears rolled down her tear-stained face.

"It happened in the lab," her voice was barely comprehendible as the usually nonchalant blonde gave way to the crushing reality at hand.

"Oh, Betty."

Gladys shook her head in disbelief. She wasn't sure which shocked her more, the fact that Kate had been at the center of the blast and was no where to be found now or that the strongest girl she knew seemed to be there too, even though she was standing right in front of her.

Gladys cupped Betty's face in her hands and bent her neck to catch the shorter girl's line of sight.

"It's going to be okay," She started, after Betty's unsure shake of her head, she added, "We both know she's a survivor. If anyone can survive this, it's her. Do you hear me? We know she's a survivor."

Betty's sob made Gladys' heart ache. She pulled Betty back close, giving her friend something to hold onto as she gave in to her tears once more.

"It's Kate…" Betty's sob came as she buried her face into the comfort of Gladys' coveralls.

"Yes, and we know she can find a way to get through it somehow." Gladys reassuringly said into her ear as tears welled up in her own eyes. With as much assurance as she could muster, she finished her hopeful promise…

"She's Kate."


	13. Chapter 13

Listen to me now  
I need to let you know  
You don't have to go it alone  
-_Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own _by U2

* * *

"Gladys, Betty!" Vera called out as she and Carol came up holding hands while working their way through the forming crowd.

Each girl embraced the other as they came up.

"I can't believe it finally happened." Vera said, astonished. "It's one thing to joke about seein' the old lady finally blow her top and completely another to see it happen with your own eyes."

"We were in a safety meeting when it happened," Carol said. "How ironic is that?"

The shorter brunette clung to Gladys as she shook her head in disbelief.

"The stairway was blown off the wall practically. We had to go out the rickety old fire escape in the back. Death by falling fire escape was not a headline I wanted to be apart of tomorrow."

Vera noticed that neither girl laughed at Carol's mistimed joke. Suddenly, it struck her as she looked around.

"Where are Kate and Reggie?"

Betty's eyes immediately went to the ground.

"Still inside," Gladys answered, solemnly.

Carol gasped, her hand coming up to her mouth in surprise. Betty's jaw tightened at the sound.

Vera said nothing as she reached over and slipped her hand into Betty's, giving it a comforting squeeze.

"Ladies, it's good to see you all," Lorna said, coming up as she checked their names off of her clipboard.

"Who's names haven't you checked off yet, mam?" Vera asked, nodding to the shift matron's roll call sheet.

"Henry Jenkins, Donald Ferguson, Regina Harrison, and Kate Andrews."

Silence marked the gravity of the moment as they thought of each person she listed. All worked in the lab where the blast had occurred. Vera wondered what there was to say at the moment to underline the seriousness of the situation.

After a long, heavy moment, Lorna's tired voice continued.

"There will be an investigation. Starting right away. You will all need to give your statement to the authorities of what happened today. Then I suggest you all go home and get some rest. You'll be contacted when there is news."

"If it's all the same," Vera tried. "We'd like to stay here. Be a help if we can."

"Yes, plus, we'd like to be here when our friends walk out," Gladys agreed.

Lorna looked at both girls. Her face carefully controlled, she stared at both, as if she was considering the truth in their words. Finally, her eyes fell on Betty's whose eyes were still down casted. She had found her answer.

"Fine," She said, looking back down at her clipboard. "Just stay back and out of the way."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the short update, its been one of _those_ weeks everyone has from time to time. **


	14. Chapter 14

Now you only bring me black roses,  
And they crumble into dust when they're held  
Now you only bring me black roses,  
Under your spell  
-_Black Roses _by Lucy Schwartz

* * *

Kate was sitting by Reggie's side once again, holding her hand in her lap. She had felt around in the dark until she found the small box of needles and thread that she needed to stich up her friends forehead. She was also able to finally find a first aid kit buried in the rubble and used its antiseptic to clean the needles and Reggie and Donald's wounds, but it seemed that someone used half of the supplies in the box some time before and never refilled it, leaving her with a bare minimum to use on them. She tried closing the gash on Reggie's forehead as best as she could and stripped her pants leg down to make a fresh new bandage around her friend's head. As she sat and settled down beside her friend, she began to feel the chunk of metal digging into her back. Before, she hadn't had time to notice the large piece lodged there, but now that she had seen it, she was suddenly very aware of its painful existence. She knew better than to pull the piece out, its painful placement meant it was keeping her from bleeding too much.

As she leaned back and rested her head on the chunk of broken wall behind her, she closed her eyes and pictured the wound as it pulsated pain through her body like a blinking caution light.

"My throat burns," Reggie said. "Anyone else's throat burning?"

"It's the cyclonite. The new chemical we've been working with. My nose is burning with it, so the air must be filled with it. It's probably why no one has come to the rescue. No one wants to be near the damn toxic stuff," Donald glumly said from his spot across the pile.

Kate thought of her friends whom she had no way of knowing was okay or not. They had all seen the safety films on what too much exposure of the gases at the factory would do to a body. What if the rest of the factory looked like the lab did and they lay trapped and helpless on the factory floor. The leaking gas could be affecting her friends as well. An image of Betty lying on the floor flashed through her mind.

"The valves for it are in here the lab, right? Couldn't we just turn them off?" Kate asked, squeezing her eyes shut to stop the image of a hurt Betty that seized her body as much as her wound did.

"Yeah, but you gotta be careful on how you turn it off. You have to slowly turn off the amatol pumps and the cyclonite valve at a consistent rate in order for it not to build up too much pressure."

"Okay, so if I find the valves and pumps… what happens if I let it off too quickly and pressure releases too fast?"

"Big Boom," Reggie said simply.

"And what happens if I do it too slowly and it builds pressure?"

"Bigger boom," Donald added.

"Well, those odds sound promising," Kate nervously said, but thought of her friends once more. Betty was out there somewhere. She had to try.

"You gonna try turning them off?" Reggie asked as Kate began to get up.

"Yeah, I can't just sit here anymore."

"Be careful."

"And don't blow us up, well, more," Donald quipped.

Kate nodded and made her way over the pile of rubble trapping Reggie, heading towards where she knew the valves once stood. As she slid down the debris, she stopped in her tracks when she landed right beside where Reggie's legs jutted out underneath the heavy concrete. Both legs were abnormally turned in the wrong direction. How had she not seen this before?

"Reggie…" she said, hoping her voice didn't sound as panicked as she felt seeing the badly twisted legs. "Your legs…"

"What about them?" The girl asked as Kate climbed up to peep over the rubble at her. "Can you see them?"

"Yeah," Kate nodded, her face gone pale. "Do they hurt?"

"No…why?" Reggie answered, worry filling her voice. "Should they?"

Kate swallowed hard and shook her head quickly. "It's probably all the concrete on top of you… cutting off the feeling to them is all. Can you move them? Wiggle your foot or something."

Reggie's brow furrowed as she concentrated on the simple task. Kate looked back down at the injured girl's legs.

"Are they moving?" Reggie asked hopefully.

Kate watched carefully for even the slightest sign of movement, but it never came. As much as her friend tried, her legs never moved an inch. Kate closed her eyes at the terrible meaning.

"Well?" Reggie asked, her voice sounding high pitch with worry. "Are they moving?"

Kate turned back towards her and put on the best smile she could muster. "Yeah…yeah. That's good, you're moving them just fine."

"Okay, good…" Reggie sighed in relief. "That's good to know."

For the first time that day, Kate was thankful for the dark environment. She didn't want her friend to see the lie in her eyes.

She started making her way towards the valves again and began to wonder how she was ever going to survive this.

* * *

The bright sunlight made Betty's eyes squint as she tried shielding the offending light with her hand while looking towards her factory.

Normally she would scoff at the idea of calling it _her_ factory. She knew she was a hard worker, but she wasn't one for show boating or making bold claims in effort for equality. Truth was, as soon as the war was over, she and the other women who worked there would cease to matter in the grand scheme of things to the factory or, at least, that's what she had been constantly told. They were merely the placeholders until the boys came home.

"Come on," Arlene said, coming up behind Betty and grabbing her arm to pull it towards her as she walked backwards. "I think we've had enough."

"What?" Betty looked at her incredulously. "What are you doing?'

"I'm taking you home. There's nothing more _you_ can do."

"Have you gone mad? I'm not going anywhere," Betty gritted out, wrenching her arm free.

Off the looks of Gladys and the police officers that were taking her statements, Arlene ducked her head.

"Last I remember, neither one of us were too fond of spending time with the boys in blue," she reasoned as Betty turned her attention back to the factory.

Off of Betty's silence, she rolled her eyes.

"What? You think you can just will her free?" Arlene started again, her voice growing agitated. "There's no way she survived and you standing here sulking isn't going to make that any less true."

Betty stood still, her back to the other girl, as the words cut deep.

"Did you even notice that I was gone? You haven't looked for me since you went running stupidly towards the damn blast. I mean, did you even notice that I could still been in there too?"

"Nope."

Arlene's face fell.

"Fine," She said, shaking her head as she turned to go. "Stay here with your damn factory and broken hope."

Betty didn't even turn to see the other girl leave.

This was her factory. This big damn looming building that had somehow swallowed her up with its promise of independence and taste of the future. Others may say they didn't matter to the factory in the grand scheme of things, but it matter to her. Inside its walls, she had sweated, worried, and worked harder than she had ever before. The dangers they faced each day as they walked through its doors was the price they paid to reap its liberation. And yet, ironically, now it stood with its grip on the one person in the world who made her realize just how much she craved that liberty.

Yes, it was _her_ factory. Her freedom. Her future. Her everything.

And she had never hated it more.


	15. Chapter 15

Down in my mind where I don't care to go  
The pain of a lesson is letting me know  
If you have love in your heart let it show while you can  
_-Through My Prayers _by The Avett Brothers

* * *

Vera walked up with three cups of coffee in hand. She handed a cup to Gladys and Carol as they watched Betty pace back and forth in front of the wooden blockades, her pensive gaze never leaving the factory.

"Enjoy some octane from the Red Cross, they've already set up shop in the parking lot next door. Those gussies don't waste a minute to move in when it comes to catastrophes."

"Thank you," Gladys said, blowing on the steaming liquid. "You know their motto… In war, comes charity, coffee, and donuts."

"I would have brought Betty one, but I think she's jittery enough."

"I just wish she'd stand still, she's making me dizzy," Gladys sighed, clearly worried for her distraught friend.

"I can't blame her though," Carol said, her eyes following the other girl's tireless vigilance. "I'd be the same way if Gladys was still somewhere in that heap."

Gladys smiled kindly at her longtime friend. "Same here, Carol."

Vera sipped her coffee as she watched Betty fret back and forth. They all seemed to be mesmerized by the parade of torment in front of them. No one knew how to comfort her as time slowly ticked on.

"I mean, the way Betty feels about Kate… I feel the exact same way for Gladys," Carol said offhandedly.

Vera suddenly sucked down a mouthful of coffee causing her to choke on the hot liquid. She sputtered and coughed as Gladys and Carol turned to her.

"Sorry," She coughed out, clasping her chest as she tried to control her breathing. "Went down the wrong way, I guess."

"Well, it's any wonder," Carol replied, patting Vera on the back. "With the way you slurp it down like a horse."

"Yeah, Vera," Gladys agreed, trying to hide her knowing smile behind her cup. "Drink. More. Slowly."

Vera narrowed her eyes at Gladys in mock offence and tried biting down her own small smile. Once she regained her composure, silence fell between them again as they turned their attention back to the blonde, who was still lost in the building before them.

"I can't stand here and watch her worry anymore. I'm going to go see if there's been any news on when they can go back in," Gladys said finally.

They watched Gladys disappear through the crowd.

"You know, I'd be upset right now too, if your whereabouts were unknown as well," Carol offered carefully, glancing briefly towards Vera before turning back towards Betty.

"Oh yeah?" Vera smiled at the nice thought.

"Yeah," Carol said sweetly, before adding. "I mean, who else would manhandle the duplicating machine the way you do every week? Certainly not these delicate hands."

Vera laughed out and looped her arm through Carol's.

"Oh, Carol, dear," She smiled. "Don't ever change."

Carol nodded and sighed as they leaned into each other for warmth and comfort and watched Betty's misery march on in front of them.

* * *

Kate was sitting by Reggie, holding the pinned girl's free hand and soothingly brushing her hair back. She tried her best to turn the valves off exactly as Reggie had said and spent several agonizing moments trying figure out how to do it since the valves were bent out of proportion. She was finally able to get them to turn with the help of pliers she found in the rubble and she took it as a positive sign when she had not blown them all to kingdom come. Although, really she had no way to tell if she actually turned the toxic fumes off, since the wall where the meters had normally been was no longer there. She prayed she had managed to do the trick for her friends. She hated not knowing how they were. In her mind, she pictured all of them hurting in a thousand different ways. She willed herself not to picture worse.

"At least the dusty haze cleared out," Reggie's said, her voice breaking into images of Betty lying helplessly across the factory floor in Kate's mind.

She noticed that Reggie's voice seemed to be getting weaker as the time crawled by.

"How come there wasn't a fire?" Kate asked, hoping to keep Reggie alert and talking. She had to keep the silence from falling between them.

"These bombs aren't really made to start fires, they're made to annihilate our enemies. Hence all the destruction. Clearly, we're too good at our jobs."

They heard Donald laugh from his spot on the other side of the rubble. Kate had almost forgotten he was still lying over there.

He continued to chuckle.

"It wasn't that funny," Reggie grumbled, looking at Kate as they both wondered what he found so funny.

"No, no," He said in between laughter. "It's just… I dodged the army because I didn't want to get blown to smithereens or die in some dark hole over there."

Reggie and Kate looked at each other, not really knowing how to react.

"What is that called again? You know, what you two smart ones are always going on and on about it with your little books? Irony of fate?"

"Oh God," Reggie laughed. "The world must be ending if Donald Ferguson just used an element of literature in a sentence."

This caused Kate to bust out laughing, which in turn caused Reggie to laugh even more. Soon they were all laughing at the absurdity of it all.

"Talk about an explosive home front effort," Kate laughed out.

"Yeah, next time I'll just join CWAC, maybe I'll see less action," Reggie said, between her own breaths of laughter.

Finally, after a moment of delirious laughter, reality crept its way back in again as Reggie and Kate's laughter died down, but Donald kept on. He seemed to be laughing harder than before.

"Has the fumes gotten to him or has he finally gone bonkers?" Reggie asked with raised eyebrows.

"Alrighty, Donald. That was pretty funny," Kate tried, looking over at the pile where the injured man lay just beyond. "But lets calm down now. You need to stay still as possible, remember?"

"Yeah, you might pop a lung or something," Reggie said when Donald continued to laugh.

Suddenly, Donald's laughter turned into fits of coughing.

"See," Reggie joked, but looked alarmed as his coughing persisted, growing deeper.

"Donald, just breathe deeply," Kate tried, sitting up straighter, looking over at the pile of rubble as if she could see him. "Try breathing rhythmically."

When the sounds of his coughing became more intense and his breath more shallow, Kate hopped up and crawled over to his side of the rubble.

His face was a bright violet color as his coughs continued.

"Just breathe, Donald. You gotta calm down and just breathe."

The larger man began to squirm as his coughing turned deeper and his face began to turn a shade of blue. Kate pulled him up by the lapels of his overalls and pulled him closer to sit him in a reclining position, hoping it would open his airway better, but he continued on.

"Breathe with me Donald!" Kate implored. She took deep breaths in and out, trying to get him back in rhythm. "You gotta work with me, just calm down…"

Suddenly, blood shot out of his mouth and onto Kate's face and chest, causing Kate to jump as the dark crimson fluid sprayed across her. She looked at Donald in shock as he continued to cough up the offending liquid, now coming out in volumes.

"Donald!" Kate pleaded, shaking her head urgently, her brow furrowed in horror. "Hang on!"

He gripped her arm with his one good arm and stared at her in panic as his coughing turned into choking.

"Please…" His voice gurgled. His eyes were wide with fear as he coughed up more blood onto her chest, now leaning heavily on her.

"Stay with me, Donald…" Kate begged, noticing his coughing was becoming more sporadic. "Just listen to my voice and stay with me."

He squeezed her arm once more before falling limply into her chest. His coughing had quieted down as he took small shallow breaths. Finally, his head turned up towards hers as if he wanted to say something, but only a tear rolled down his cheek and his arm fell limply from its grasp on her arm.

Kate watched as he took his last breath and the light in his eyes slipped away.

"Donald!"

She tried shaking him gently, patting his cheeks. "Come on, Donald…"

The gray devoid of his eyes stayed the same. Her shaky, bloodstained hands checked the pulse in his neck.

He was gone.

Kate gently placed him back on the ground and fell backwards heavily. She sat there in shock, staring at his limp form. Here was the man who had held her down, the one she had just held up, hoping desperately to save. She felt like her whole body was shaking.

Reggie's soft voice came out of the darkness.

"…Is he…?"

"…Yeah."

This time Kate let the silence fall heavily between them.

* * *

A/N: Thank you for the kind feedback so far for this fic. Each one has meant a great deal to me and made my day every time I've received them!


	16. Chapter 16

Is there a chance?  
A fragment of light at the end of the tunnel?  
A reason to fight?  
Is there a chance you may change your mind?  
Or are we ashes and wine?  
-_Ashes and Wine Ashes and Wine _by A Fine Frenzy

* * *

"Mr. Aikens," Marco said, walking behind the older man and the police chief, while Leon quietly followed close behind. "I know this factory like the back of my hand… I can get in and find…"

"Damn it, boy!" Mr. Aikens snapped as they came up to the area where Lorna, Betty, Vera, Gladys, and Carol all stood waiting for news. "This is not a moment for heroics. At this very moment, dangerous fumes are spewing all over that place. The air is filled with it. It would take barely a hip cup to practically blow the whole block off the map. This is no time to be playing soldier."

Marco's brow furrowed at the older man's slight.

"We're waiting on the latest readings from the air analysts," the police chief added. "Once we have those readings, we'll have a better idea on how to continue."

"Chief Draper," Leon tried, his deep voice calm and even. "It's getting dark. The temperatures are dropping. And every moment we sit around on our hands considering what might happen, the more time we waste."

"I must agree with these men," Dr. Patel said, walking up beside them. "I've been here for hours now, waiting to treat those trapped and possibly seriously injured. The longer it takes to get them out and to proper medical care, the more pointless my presence here will become."

"Unless any of you know how to turn off the gushing, highly explosive gases leaking into the air, than we're at an impasse," The police chief said with a tone of finality.

"Well sure, all you gotta do is find the main amatol pump and the cyclonite valve and interchangeably lower their output by turning the valve counter-clock wise and the amatol pumps clock-wise to a 45 degree pressure point. Releasing the gases slowly in a safe and non-disruptive way, therefore avoiding pressure issues of the explosive nature," Carol rambled out as if she were giving a lunch order out.

They all turned to look at her with astonishment.

"What?" she asked off their surprised looks. "I listen during the safety meetings…" Still feeling their stares, she added after a beat, "…sometimes…. When there's donuts…"

"Oh good," Mr. Aikens said, throwing his arms up in the air. "We can send in the fearless Italian, the colored custodian, and Carol Demers to save the day. That'll be sure to make the headlines."

"Chief Draper," Another police officer said, walking up and handing the older man an envelope. "The readings are in."

He tore into the package and began eagerly reading. They all held their breaths as the man read silently, his face never revealing what they were all dying to know. Gladys thought she would explode from the wait while Betty grew incredibly still beside her.

"Well, isn't that just the dandiest thing," The man said, shaking his head.

"What?" Lorna asked, her breath caught in her throat. "What does it say?"

"The readings are down significantly than the last time. In fact, they're incredibly low considering the rate it was coming out before."

"So what does that mean?" Vera asked, hopeful.

"It means someone on the inside just may have saved the day themselves," Chief Draper said with a smile.

Gladys let out a shaky laugh while Marco picked Vera up and spun her around, sending the blonde into a fit of happy laughter. Carol looked on with interest, not really knowing what was going on, but knowing it was a moment to smile. Gladys turned to Betty who was still quiet.

"Bets," She said, happily pulling the other girl's hands into her own. "It's Kate. I just know it."

Betty breathed out slowly. Her mouth opened to say something, but only silence followed. Gladys wondered if she was too scared to get her hopes up.

"When can your men go in to get these people out?" Lorna asked.

"My men?" Chief Draper said, shaking his head as he folded up the papers in his hands and placed them inside his breast pocket. "Oh, no, no. It's still too dangerous. Just because the readings are down doesn't mean it's not still highly explosive in there. Why, with one scrape of shovel or spark of blowtorch…. Boom! It's my responsibility to not fail Canada by keeping one of its best ammunition factories in tact as much as possible."

"So …so you'll just leave those people inside to continue and suffer?" Lorna sputtered out angrily. "No, Mr. Draper. Those people inside… they're your responsibility. How can you just minimize their importance? Why they are… They're your daughters, the neighbors down the street, or maybe even a brother… the point is, they are somebody's loved ones. And it's your responsibility to not fail these people because they are what will win this war. Not some damn building. These people are Canada. And _they_ are your responsibility today."

They all stood in awe at the factory matrons' gallant speech. Once again, their mentor had known exactly what to say when it needed to be heard the most.

The older man looked to the woman who stood firmly with her arms crossed, unwilling to back down. He took his fedora off and ran his hands through his greying hair before placing it back on his head. Contemplating his next move, he finally turned towards Marco and Leon.

"So you two know the factory's layout best, eh?"


	17. Chapter 17

'Cause I've been livin' in the half life  
Not sure which way to turn  
Why must a man lose everything  
To find out what he wants  
-_High Hope _by Glen Hansard

* * *

Kate was back on Reggie's side, holding the trapped girl's hand as she lay helplessly underneath the mass of concrete confining her. The silence was louder than ever before as Kate leaned her head back against the broken slab of wall behind her. The searing pain in her back was becoming unbearable now and Kate wondered how much blood she could loose before she would begin blacking out as a small pool of it began to form on the side her injury lay.

"What do you think happened to Donald?" Reggie asked, pulling Kate from her thoughts.

"His internal injuries, they must have caused his lungs to slowly fill up with blood," Kate answered, closing her eyes as she tried to keep the room from spinning once again.

"How come you know so much about the medical side of this day?"

Kate lifted her head at the sound of Reggie's quiet question. She looked down at her friend and noticed the girl looked paler than ever.

"My father…" Kate started, reaching down to Reggie to brush back the wisps of hair that was sticking to her clammy forehead. "He considered himself a faith healer, one who thought he had the power to heal all kinds of illnesses and injuries by spiritual means."

Reggie listened silently, taking in shaky breathes of air as Kate explained her father's zealous beliefs. She knew it was a moment where commentary didn't belong.

"He would drag us all over the place…" Kate said, staring blankly ahead as her story unfolded. "From town to town, trying to heal the maimed and sick. When someone was injured badly at work, someone diagnosed with cancer, or when someone was simply dying… they'd call my father. My family would have to stand there and watch. Sometimes it seemed like it worked, his praying and rituals… luck really…but most times…"

Kate's voice trailed off as the memory of her fathers booming voice echoed through her ears while he commanded over the cries of pain.

"…I'd have to stand there and watch someone bleed out," Kate began again, her brow deeply furrowed as she tried to make sense of it all. "I got so tired of just standing there feeling so helpless, so I started sneaking away when my father thought I was out sharing the Word, but really I'd go to the library and read every medical book I could get my hands on. Books on how to set broken bones, bleeding control, internal injuries, handling diseases, even how to treat canker sores… I wanted to know it all."

"Well, that must have come handy for your father," Reggie tried, softly.

Kate shook her head and smiled sadly.

"Never got a chance to use the knowledge," She said, her voice coming out low. "I was too scared to use it. I was even more helpless than before because I knew what needed to be done… but I couldn't. I could never let him know what I had done. That I didn't believe he could heal them… So I just stood there..."

Reggie looked up at her friend with sadness.

"…I was only fourteen," Kate whispered, her eyes relaying the unspeakable pain.

"Parents, they're peculiar creatures sometimes," Reggie said, her voice shaking as a chill ran through her body. "When I was fourteen, I couldn't get along with my Mom's live-in boyfriend, so I gave her the option, me or him."

"What happened?"

"I had a new address the next week," Reggie said, smiling weakly. "But it turned out okay. I got a job at a washing machine factory and landed rent of a sweet little loft above the local grocery store. On the weekends, the family would let me ride along with their son in their Rolling Store truck out to the farmlands. It was some of the best memories of my life."

"Oh, yeah?" Kate asked, smiling down at her friend. She was glad to see her friend perk up as she thought of the memories.

"Yeah, being out on the open road, it was the best thing in the world… the grocer's son… his name was Albert Rigby…. We'd talk about anything and everything. Life, our dreams, or about nothing at all. He was amazing."

"So I take you and Albert were more than just friends?" Kate smiled sweetly.

"Yeah, eventually," Reggie sighed, happily. "It just… it was like finding your other half. You just know you fit together because all the different jagged edges, discolored lines, and rugged parts of your life… they just line up and lock in perfectly with their own nook and crannies."

Kate nodded her understanding as an image of Betty smiling from her spot on the factory line played in her mind. Betty knew all the jagged parts of her life just as Kate knew every twisted line that made Betty the toughest girl she'd ever known.

"Have you ever known a person who just got you?" Reggie asked.

"Yeah," Kate said, smiling shyly. "When without a word, with just a glance, they know when you are in pain or scared or happy… any number of feelings. They'd know instantly, because they were the only person you ever wanted to share them with."

Reggie nodded and smiled. "Are you thinking of Ivan?"

"Ivan? Oh," Kate said, blushing while looking down. "No, a friend, actually."

Reggie looked up and regarded her, as if she were examining a long awaited truth in front of her before giving Kate a small smile, causing the redhead to blush and look away.

Betty was the only person she ever wanted to share her feelings with. She was the only person she wanted to share anything with really. When she came into her life, it was the first time in her life that she felt like she had something worth to share.

"Albert had the prettiest blue eyes I've ever known," Reggie said, breaking into Kate's thoughts.

"Blue eyes?" Kate asked surprised. "He was…"

"White as a lily on a sunny day?" Reggie asked, her laugh coming out in short breaths. "Yeah. I think it's why I dig Tolstoy so much… now there's a fella who got complicated love stories … _For if it is true that there are as many minds as there are heads, then there are as many kinds of love as there are hearts_."

Kate looked down at her friend as the words washed over her.

"When you find that person," Reggie said softly, squeezing Kate's hand. "Who makes your tomorrows look better. Who gives you a reason to be brave and makes you remember how to dream again … that person who, when living without them, means you're only living a half-life… When you find that person, Kate…. You hold onto them for dear life."

Kate wordlessly nodded as she leaned her head back against the wall behind her and felt her friend's words flutter through her soul, lighting a path of freedom that began and ended with her heart.

With Ivan, she only shared what she had to, but with Betty… Betty was whom she shared her life with.

She had spent her whole life being afraid, until she met Betty. In the short time she had known her, she had felt braver and more alive than she ever dreamed possible. The truth was simple and clear.

Betty was her better tomorrow.

Silence fell between them once more as Kate allowed her thoughts to stir ambers of hope and possibility through her mind. The sound of Reggie's shallow breaths echoed in the small pocket of fallen debris.

"Kate?" Reggie called out, her voice shaking again. "Did those medical books ever tell you what it means if you can't see anymore?"

"What?" Kate asked, lifting her head at the strange sound of her friend's voice.

"I can't see you anymore…" She said, blinking as she tried focusing on Kate. "I can't see anything anymore… what does that mean?"

"I don't know…" Kate whispered, looking down at her in alarm. "I never got that far. It was only a few weeks before my father found out about my secret…"

"Oh," Reggie said, her whole body now shaking with cold. "Too bad."

"Maybe I could try and find a way out again," Kate said, sitting up as she looked around the room. "Try again to find a hole to force my way through or something…"

She began to climb up onto her knees. She had to do something. She knew what the bruises on Reggie's chest meant; she knew time was precious and going against whatever internal injuries the trapped girl was suffering from. She had to get help for her friend somehow.

"Noo," Reggie pleaded, desperately clasping onto Kate's hands with her one free hand. "Please don't leave me… I don't want to be alone. Please don't go."

The sound of fear in her voice overwhelmed Kate as she cradled Reggie's hand in both of hers.

"Okay, I'm right here," She reassured her. "I'm not going anywhere then."

Reggie nodded as she lay there shaking, her face displaying the terror she felt. Her fingers felt so cold in between Kate's hands. She had read enough of the medical books to know what that meant – a thought she tried to push back.

"I'm sure help will be here soon," She said, trying to sound hopeful. "Then we'll get out and warm up finally."

"Sounds good."

"So tell me," Kate knew she had to keep the girl talking and her mind off of what her body was telling her. "What ever happened between you and Albert?"

"Parents.. hiss… parents eventually found out," She stuttered. "Didn't end so well for us. Albert was sent away to boarding school, I lost my loft one week… job the next…"

"That's a pity."

"Yeaah, welll," She joked, her voice shaking uncontrollably. "Apparently, if… if you're the only one in town carrying Palmolive, you've got some pull."

Kate smiled as she felt tears well up in her eyes. Of course her friend would joke at a time like this if it meant making her smile.

"Well, when we get out, you'll have to write Albert and tell him how much he still means to you."

"How much I want to spend the rest of my life with him?"

"And how much of that life you never even knew you wanted until you met him."

Reggie closed her eyes as her own tears slipped out, nodding her head in agreement.

"And you'll…" she breathed out. "You'll tell your friend… the same?"

"Yeah," Kate whispered. "We'll be brave together."

"And… I'll tell Mrs. Corbett," Reggie said, breathlessly as her words took more effort now. "A thank you for giving me a second chance… for giving me a home again. She should know that, right?"

"Absolutely," Kate said, brushing away the tears as they raced down the curves of Reggie's face. "You'll tell her yourself."

They both knew they were making promises that weren't guaranteed.

"Kate, I'm kinda tired of talking…" Reggie's voice came out weakly. "Could you, maybe, sing that new Billie Holiday song you sang two nights ago… at the Jewel Box."

"I'll be Seeing You?" Kate asked, unsure if it was a song she wanted to dare sing right then.

"Yeah," Reggie gasped, smiling up at Kate. "It's my favorite of yours. It's a song worth singing. We'll sing it together when we're out and it's warm again... to Albert and your friend even."

Kate cleared her throat and wondered how she was ever going to hit the right notes, but she would do anything for her friend.

_I'll be seeing you  
__In all the old familiar places  
__That this heart of mine embraces  
__All day and through_

Kate started, her voice raspy at first, but becoming stronger once she saw Reggie's happy sigh as she looked up with glassy eyes.

_In that small cafe  
__The park across the way  
__The children's carousel  
__The chestnut trees, the wishing well_

Kate brushed Reggie's hair back, putting every emotion she had left into the song for her, just as she watched Reggie's breathing slow.

_I'll be seeing you  
__In every lovely summer's day  
__In everything that's light and gay  
__I'll always think of you that way_

A tear ran down the side of Kate's face as her voice harmonized with the melody while Reggie lay peacefully beside her.

_I'll find you in the morning sun  
__And when the night is new  
__I'll be looking at the moon  
__But I'll be seeing you_

Reggie was no longer shaking, her breaths coming out in short breaths. Kate leaned down so her friend could hear her fully.

_I'll be seeing you  
__In every lovely summer's day  
__In everything that's light and gay  
__I'll always think of you that way_

Kate held on tightly to Reggie's hand as she let the tune float out between them. The harmony rising just as the light slipped away from Reggie's eyes.

_I'll find you in the morning sun  
__And when the night is new  
__I'll be looking at the moon…_

Kate felt Reggie's last breath brush against her cheek, her hand going limp in her own, her heart giving its last beat. Kate closed her eyes and pressed a kiss to her friend's forehead as tears streamed down her face.

The last line came out in a shaky, raspy voice…

…_But I'll be seeing yooou…_

* * *

**A/N: **This fic was first inspired by one line in one episode of the show. It was for the 2nd episode in season 2, when Lorna has the miscarriage and Gladys rushes her to the ladies dressing room, where Betty and Kate are and then Kate says a throw away line that kinda blew me away when I first saw it, she pleaded with Lorna to get help and tells her "Mam, you could bleed to death, I've seen it." It made me wonder what all she's seen in her lifetime if she's seen someone bleed to death. The scene ends with her calmly, yet effectively cleaning the blood away, like she was all too accustomed to it. In that moment, it was Kate who seemed the calmest and the one who got through to Lorna to get her to seek the help she needed. It gave me chills when I saw it and it sparked the idea of all the possibilities of what Kate might be capable of when faced with life and death situations and, finally, why she was so capable of it in the first place. Anyways, that's a little back story to this fic. Thanks for reading it so far!


	18. Chapter 18

Oh the caged bird dreams of a strong wind  
That will flow beneath her wings  
Like a voice longs for a melody  
Oh Jesus, carry me  
_-From this Valley _by The Civil Wars

* * *

Kate sat in dark, completely alone now. She leaned her head back on the wall behind her and closed her eyes as the world spun uncontrollably. How long had it been since the explosion? Hours? Days? An eternity?

She kept Reggie's still hand in her own as time crept by. The pain in her back was now radiating through her whole body, washing over her again and again in an endless loop of misery. The pool of blood beside her was now a small stream as it ran down the concrete beside her and she knew that wasn't a good sign.

She felt the lull slip up on her as the world began to fade away. She was all too familiar with this feeling. She use to wait for its serenity, for its nothingness to extend its fingers around her and spirit her away as her father railed against her. Giving in to the oblivion was as easy as falling. Only, it was exactly what her father always wanted. For her to submit to him by whatever form of punishment he seemed fit. Grinding her down until there was nothing left.

But then, she eventually learned to not to completely give in. She'd find something to hold onto in her mind. A way to keep inside herself in order to take the pain and, therefore, to beat him at his own game by staying conscious as he left scars across her body and across her soul. So time after time she'd find something in her day to keep her focus on. Her bible scriptures, favorite hymns, the ducks at the park, the couples walking hand in hand. These simple things kept her alive in her father's worst moments.

Now as she lay in the dark, waiting for that empty stillness once more, she wondered what her father would say if he could see her now. He'd probably tout one of his favorite verses about reaping what you sow. Or maybe he'd whisper for her to give up. To abide by his authority and accept she wasn't worth saving to the people on the outside. It would be so easy to give in to the quiet oblivion. To just slip away, like a feather in the wind, listless and free.

But she wouldn't. She couldn't give her father that satisfaction, not even after being dead for over a year now. Not after how far she had come. She'd find something to hold onto…

**"_Here's the deal ladies, if you do fine embroidery, you can ensemble a time fuse, if you sew buttons, you can sew a detonator, if you can pour tea, you can pour amatol. It's no big whoop." _**

Kate closed her eyes as Betty's voice rang out in her mind, warming her all over, just as it did on her first day at VicMu. She wanted to lean into that warmth over and over again.

**"_If I had a voice like that… I might actually believe in God." _**

**"_Hi… Gladys Witham. If I knew there was a morning confab, I'd gotten here early." _**

**"_Do you wanna try a twirl?"_**

The memories flowed easily through her mind now. Like greeting an old friend and instantly falling back into step with each other again. She had to hold onto them and let them hold her firmly to this world.

**"_You're Kate Andrews now. New name. New job. New life."_**

**"_Leon says I gotta meet some guy name Billie Holiday…" _**

**"…_I can make the introductions." _**

**"_You wait, Betty. They're all going to see what I see… a hero." _**

Kate heard a voice in the distance. Her head fell to the side and she strained to open her eyes. Was it her father? Shaking her head to clear it, she listened carefully. It was a man's voice, but not like her fathers. It was on the other side of the debris, but now it sounded as if it was getting further away. Like they were walking away.

"…Hey…" She heard her hoarse voice rasp out. She wanted to jump up and scream for help, but she could barely keep her eyes open. "…I'm here…"

She had to get their attention. She had to let them know she was there even though her arms felt so impossibly heavy. She slowly lifted her left hand from her lap and felt around for the broken piece of pipe beside her. She had to find the strength to try.

**"_I need help chasing down a thief…. We'll storm in like its Leningrad, catch her red handed..." _**

**"…_Or Purple handed!"_**

**"_This is the new you… and this is for you." _**

She lifted the broken pipe that was about the size of her forearm and let it fall heavily to the ground, causing it to clang loudly against the concrete floor.

**"_Isn't it beautiful? …Imagine living here…"_**

**"… _Yeah, I do actually…. Of course, I'd need housemates… or, at least, one…"_**

**"…_You're on."_**

She reached for the pipe once more and raised it up, slamming it down to the concrete this time. It was using all the energy she had left, but the memories kept her going as she lifted the pipe and let it fall heavily against the floor again and again.

**"_If you're in that revue, I'll be there…"_**

**"…_Ditto!" _**

**"…_So you'll at least have two cheering for ya." _**

**"_Honey, I just fake it. It's all an act. Now show me yours!" _**

It may be the last thing she did. She may even cause a spark and blow all that was left of VicMu up to the heavens itself, but they would know she was there. They would know that she didn't give up.

Kate heard the voices again, closer this time. She heard metal scrapping as it was being pulled away, she lifted the pipe up again and let it fall heavily to the ground.

**"…_He told me none of us can hide forever…"_**

**"…_We do what we have to… to survive…"_**

**"… _but when we're finally safe, it's okay to stop fighting." _**

A beam of light bounced around her as a flashlight shone through the darkness from a newly made hole on the other side.

"Hello?! Is anyone there?" Marco's voice called out somewhere in front of her, his voice loud and strong.

Kate lifted the pipe up again.

**"_Growing up in that awful caravan, I'd never thought that I'd have a future. But, in the last year, I've lived more than I ever dreamt. I found a real home… Annd I met a man who was good to me… and I found a friend, Betty… a real friend…._**

**… _Who loved me." _**

"Kate!" Marco called out, climbing through the debris. "She's in here! Bring the stretcher!"

Leon and Dr. Patel were close behind, making their way to her as they climbed through the open window and into the lab where she still sat holding Reggie's hand.

"Hey there, church mouse," Leon coolly greeted her as they crawled to her side. "Boy, are we glad to see you."

Kate's eyes were heavy as she looked up at them. Dr. Patel began looking her over, so they helped her sit up where he found the metal jutting painfully out of her back.

"She's lost a lot of blood and her injuries are quite serious. We must get her to the hospital right away."

Kate slumped heavily against Marco as they carefully placed her onto the stretcher. Once she was lying down, she looked up at Leon.

"…Is she…Is…"

"Your friends, they're okay," He whispered, leaning down so she could hear what he really meant. "They're _ALL _okay."

Kate looked up at his reassuring expression and tried to give him a thankful smile.

She felt the blackness closing in on her as they lifted her up in the stretcher. She looked over at Reggie's still form, her hand still in hers.

"It's okay," Marco said, gently. "We'll get her out of here next."

Kate's brow furrowed as Leon and Marco carried the stretcher forward, she looked over to the hand that was still grasping onto Reggie's colder one and watched as she opened her palm and let her friend's hand slip away into the darkness.

They began the rigorous task of getting her over the destruction while keeping the stretcher level. She could see the light from the factory floor now.

Just as they pulled her stretcher into the light of the factory, Kate felt the darkness circle in as her world began to fade away. She was heading towards safety. Towards her friends again….

…Towards Betty…

**"_Hey… Whatever you're running from… you're safe here now. … I'll make sure." _**


	19. Chapter 19

The anger swells in my guts  
And I won't feel these slices and cuts  
I want so much to open your eyes  
'Cause I need you to look into mine  
-_Open Your Eyes_ by Snow Patrol

* * *

Betty let out a sigh of relief when the orderly pushed Kate's gurney through the double doors that led from the surgical wing. She, Gladys and Vera all stood as the bed rolled towards them with Dr. Patel and Sheila following close behind. The three of them had come straight to the hospital while everyone else stayed behind to deal with the battered factory and those lost on that terrible day.

Seeing Marco and Leon carry Kate out of the destruction alive had been one of the best moments of Betty's life. Followed by one of her worst moments as she saw the state the other girl had been in when they pulled her out. She was lying so impossibly still on the stretcher, completely covered in blood, bruises, and dirt. Her clothes were ripped to shreds and Betty couldn't get over how haunted she looked even as she laid unconscious and oblivious to the world around them. Now, as she rolled past them, Betty once again couldn't get over how pale and gaunt she still looked even after all the blood and dirt had been washed away.

"You're friend is very lucky we retrieved her when we did," Dr. Patel said, coming up to them as they watched the orderly push Kate's bed into a room. "I'm certain she wouldn't have made it much longer with the amount of blood lost she sustained."

Betty felt like her heart was in her throat. "How is she?"

"We removed a large piece of shrapnel from her lower back and replenished the blood she lost from it. She's bruised up rather badly and may also have a terrible concussion from her head wound, but I believe she will make a full recovery in due time."

"Oh, thank goodness," Gladys said in relief.

Betty let out another sigh of relief and felt light headed as the words "full recovery" floated through her. She felt Gladys' hand slip under her arm as if she could sense the need to keep her standing.

"You know, Ms. Andrews is special around here as she has been known to serenade the soldiers back to health, but we didn't know she was quite the handy little hero as well," Dr. Patel said as they all stood outside of Kate's room and watched Shelia take various vital signs from the girl lying unconscious. "What she did inside that rubble was nothing short of heroic. We could have used her on the hospital staff long ago."

"What do you mean, Doc?" Vera asked.

"With access only to a poorly supplied first-aid kit, she gave quality medical care to her co-workers. I was very surprised to discover them so well taken care. The wounds that she could take care of were cleaned, bandaged, and some even stitched. She made quite the effort."

"Our Kate did all that?" Gladys asked, amazed as they turned to the doctor describing Kate's heroic efforts.

"Yes, however, I'm afraid her efforts were futile. The internal injuries her trapped co-workers suffered from were extensive and irreversible. Her battle was lost long before she stormed the beaches."

"Pardon?" Gladys asked, uncertain what the young doctor meant in his metaphor.

"He means that she did all that she could to save them, but she still had to sit there and watch her efforts fail," Vera said, her tone was low and reflective.

Betty turned back towards the room in front of them and looked at the girl who still seemed so far away. With a sickening feeling, she realized the terrible truth Vera and Dr. Patel were getting at. Kate had tried her best to save them, but she still had to watch them perish.

"When I said she would recover earlier, I meant physically. We see soldiers come in after experiencing such horrific trauma and sometimes their physical ailments heal long before they can recover mentally. They call it battle fatigue. It's where the stresses of war dispense an immeasurable toll on a soldier's peace of mind. Some take to it better and adapt, while others experience memory lost, anger, and personality alternations for some time, and then there are those who never recover. So I must warn you, our dear friend may never be the same after this."

How could she? Betty wanted to demand. After all that she had been through. How anyone could still be standing after everything Kate had seen in her lifetime was beyond her. This doctor was talking about soldiers coming home from war, when Kate had seen more conflicts before she'd even hit puberty than most soldiers had seen in the whole war so far. Most didn't know that the ghosts of Kate's wars haunted her like a shadow already. Now she would have this day to bear as well.

Betty thought about how she had been on the outskirts of danger the whole day as she waited for news of Kate's fate inside the factory and now she stood just as helplessly in the crowded hospital hallway. It left her feeling drained and hopeless. All she wanted to do was to see Kate open her eyes and look at her. She would give anything to make that happen.

"Oh, dear," Vera finally sighed, relaying the gravity of the situation as they wondered how Kate would fair in the long run.

"We'll help her get through it. However, she reacts to it," Gladys promised, solemnly. "She won't be alone, right Bets?"

Betty could only nod as she slowly made her way towards Kate's room. Vera and Gladys followed as Dr. Patel turned and left to make the rest of his rounds.

As they entered the room, they watched as Shelia checked the bandage wrapped around Kate's forehead. Betty found herself holding her breath once again as she slowly approached the side of Kate's bed. She watched as Kate's chest rose and fell with each breath and took comfort in the sight. She felt like she could almost find faith in that small feat alone.

"Dr. Patel will take good care of her," Shelia said as she rounded the bed and began making notes in a chart at the end of Kate's bed. "He's very found of everyone at my Mother's factory, calls you all the work horse who will win this war. But I think Kate is special to us all since she spent so much time here singing to the soldiers. She's cheered up many a gloomy gusses during her visits."

"Now that sounds like the Kate I know," Vera said, quietly. She and Gladys stood at the foot of the bed, just on the fringe of the scene before them. They both knew this moment belong to Betty.

Betty stood at Kate's side and reached out with a shaky hand to carefully brushed back some of Kate's hair that had fallen out of place. It seemed even her normally vibrant locks weren't as luminous as they usually were. Like they had lost their reason to shine. She let her hand softly land on her shoulder and allowed the solid feel and warmth of Kate's skin settle her soul.

Kate sighed out heavily and began to stir from her slumber.

"Is she waking up?" Gladys asked, hopefully.

"Well, it looks like sleeping beauty may be returning to you," Shelia said, smiling to Betty as she looked up from the chart in hand. "Although, keep in mind, she may be a little loopy or hazy after the anesthesia that was given to relax her for the surgery. Ether has been known to make a few a little whacky."

Kate's eyes fluttered open and Betty thought her heart would burst right then and there.

"Kate?" Gladys cheerfully called out from her spot at the end of the bed.

Kate blinked her eyes as she tried to focus on the bright room around her. She looked over to the side where her name had come from and smiled weakly at the sight of her friends standing at the end of the bed where they let out a collective sigh of relief.

Kate looked at both Gladys and Vera with eyes that were heavily subdued and slowly turned her head, stopping when she found Betty by her side and sighed happily at the sight.

"Hey, you." Betty whispered, tears welling up in her eyes.

Kate held her eyes for a moment before a soft smile rose on her face and she blinked heavily.

"I wanna marry you," She called out whimsically, just before the heavy sedation pulled her back under the cloak of slumber.

Everyone stood stock still for a long beat as the words hung heavily in the air. Vera and Gladys mouths dropped open as they looked over to Betty standing frozen in place with wide eyes as she looked down at the sleeping girl in front of her. With much trepidation, they all slowly turned towards Shelia, who was still standing at the end of the bed with Kate's chart in hand.

"Well, heavens to bits!" Shelia blurted as she flipped through her chart. "How much Ether did we give her?"


	20. Chapter 20

Even in the harshest of winter I feel so warm  
Even when the marks climb up the wall, I still feel small  
This is my home  
This is my home  
Where I go when I've got nowhere else to go  
_-Home_ by Ingrid Michaelson

* * *

She was going to kill Hazel MacDugall, Betty thought as she and Kate sat in the darkened theater. Absolutely, positively kill her dead.

It had been a week and a half since the accident and only three days since Kate returned home from the hospital. Betty wanted to see Kate resting in the comfort of her room, but it seemed Kate had other thoughts in mind. She knew the redhead was still very weak and needed all the rest she could get for her battered body and mind. And yet, after the wide-eyed prompting from Kate, they had spent the day doing various things to keep busy. To Betty this meant they escaped from the endless questions of nosey housemates, away from the never-ending phone calls from reporters asking for interviews, and from where Gladys always seemed to be around, ready to dote on Kate.

She couldn't really blame Kate for wanting to get away, but she still worried that it was too much, too soon. She was still quite pale and the dark circles under her eyes made it easy to see the other girl needed the rest, but when she found Kate attempting to put a dress on that morning and then proceeded to beg her to take her out, away from the confines of her room, Betty gave in. Kate reminded her of a trapped squirrel, panicked and ready to dart for freedom the first chance she got.

So they spent the day shopping and going to the park. In every store they went, Betty made sure Kate found a place to sit while she tried on dress after dress. She hated shopping and despised dress shopping even more, but if modeling dresses for Kate meant she would sit still and rest while offering her opinion on each, then she'd do it every day until dooms day if she had too. The only problem with this plan was that now she had four new dresses and one less pay package.

The park had been less expensive as they sat watching the children play and fed the birds. Eventually, as they sat on that bench, Kate rested her head on her shoulder. She never closed her eyes to fall asleep, but Betty would take it, since the exhausted girl was off her feet, at least.

One thing she had noticed throughout the day was how Kate kept wiping her hands on her dress. It was a simple act of softly rubbing her hands across the fabric of her skirt and to most it would merely look like she was trying to smooth the wrinkles away, but to Betty it looked like something more. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on. Normally, she wouldn't have even noticed it, if Kate hadn't done it several times and now it was to the point that Betty began to count the times it happened.

Now though, they sat in the darkened old dime theater watching the film_ Young Mr. Lincoln _after Hazel's suggestion. It was an older American film, but it was one that promised storylines free of any wars or the destruction they caused. Betty figured the last thing Kate needed was to watch things blowing up or to be reminded of a death toll from battles lost, so she thought this movie would be a reasonable choice. She even made sure to linger at the popcorn stand in order to avoid any unpleasant newsreels at the beginning of the show. And Kate didn't seem to mind seeing the older picture while, once again, all Betty cared about was the fact that she was sitting and resting.

All was going well until Betty realized that the older movie wasn't so much about the life of some American President, but instead about a trial of two brothers who had been wrongly accused of murder after a brawl. Currently, one brother was preparing save the other at the expense of his own conviction and now Betty felt every muscle in her body seize up as she sat uncomfortably beside Kate. Somehow, even after taking such care to avoid the gamut of unnerving war movies coming out of Hollywood lately, she'd still managed to land them right back inside hostile territory with a film that had an eerily familiar storyline. So now she sat planning just how hard she was going to wallop Hazel the next time she saw her and wondering just how much of an effort it would take to keep from making eye contact with Kate for the rest of the night.

Betty rubbed the back of her neck as Henry Fonda's Lincoln began to pressure the Mother of the brothers to tell the truth over which son actually killed the man. She wondered if Kate felt as uncomfortable as she did about the subject at hand. Since coming home from the hospital, they'd managed to avoid all topics that might lead to awkward feelings of past discretions. Topics such as her own conviction, about heated arguments, and lost friendships. Even the little "marry me" incident at the hospital was off limits. Betty considered it a fluke since Kate had been drunk out of her gourd from painkillers. She figured the other girl had probably been picturing some handsome bloke like Henry Fonda himself when she blurted it out. And Kate didn't seem to remember it, since she hadn't mentioned it, making avoiding the matter a whole lot easier. And the thought of discussing topics like Reggie's death seemed as daunting as swimming across the Atlantic, so she figured it was better this way for now, to ignore the multiple elephants in the room until things got a little easier, until life seemed less daunting and so close to the end.

However, with the film blaring the painful reality in front of them, it was a little harder to ignore. Yes, Hazel MacDugall's days were numbered in Betty's books, that she was certain of in her mind.

Betty shyly glanced over to Kate to gage the other girl's uncomfortable reaction, but was surprised to find that the other girl wasn't watching the picture at all. She was staring straight ahead at the back of the seat in front of her, lost in her own thoughts. The furrowed brow and haunted expression told Betty she hadn't been paying attention to the film at all, but instead was caught up in some movie that was playing out in her own head.

"You okay?" Betty leaned over and whispered, causing the other girl to jump.

"Oh, yeah," She said, nodding her head a little too eagerly. "Just peachy."

Betty nodded and turned back. She knew the smile she was given was a lie. She watched from the side of her eye as Kate wiped her hands back and forth on her skirt. Six, Betty thought to herself, that would be the sixth time she'd seen her do that since she first noticed the odd little act at lunch.

"I'm going to get some fresh air," Kate turned and whispered to Betty.

"You want me to…"

"Oh, goodness, no," Kate said, placing a hand on her arm. "You stay and enjoy the picture. I'll be right back."

Betty could only nod dumbly as she sat back in her chair and watched Kate stiffly stand and make her way towards the open aisle.

She tapped her fingers on the armrest and wondered if she should follow her. Maybe the other girl needed her space. It was a reasonable thought; after all, it wasn't as if this were a normal night out for the two. It was Kate's first night out since the accident and it was the first night out together as friends again. Since she had returned from her stint in jail and things had turned so sour for them. After sitting there contemplating the argument in her head, she jumped up and made her way towards the exit.

She found Kate standing outside in the cold just as the last bit of glow from the setting sun casted her in a sea of golden amber. As beautiful as the sight was, Betty could see the storm clouds that lay just beneath the haunted expression that was firmly back in place.

"Not exactly the historical piece I was hoping for," Betty joked as she came up behind her.

Kate turned and smiled softly as she watched Betty walk up and pull a cigarette pack out of her clutch.

"I read once that Henry Fonda won awards for that role," Kate said as she watched Betty light her cigarette and began to place the pack back in her bag, before being stopped by Kate's hand to pull one out for herself.

Betty stepped in closer to light the cigarette for her.

"Well, anyone who can blabber on about the American justice system for just short of forever should definitely win some kind of brass for their efforts."

Kate laughed out at Betty's joke, but then dropped her cigarette as she grabbed the side where the ugly stiches and bruises still lay.

"Oh, don't make me laugh," she groaned, biting her lip to stifle the pain.

"You okay?" Betty asked, wincing at the sight and hating herself for causing such pain. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Kate said, shaking her head and placing a hand on Betty's arm. "Boy, am I ever grateful to you. You saved me from another boring day cooped up in that house."

"It has been a nice day, hasn't it?" Betty smiled, placing her hand over Kate's on her arm. She noticed the other girl's hand was ice cold. "Kate, your hands are freezing."

The other girl simply shrugged.

"Here gimme 'em," Betty said, flicking her forgotten cigarette away and reaching over to take both of Kate's hands into her own.

Kate stepped closer as Betty rubbed her hands with her warmer ones. She watched as Betty carefully cupped her hands and brought them up to her lips where she blew a warm breath into them, causing Kate to suck in a shaky gulp of air.

"Old farmers trick," Betty offered at Kate's breathy stare. "We oughta get back home before we both turn into an icicle."

"What about the movie?"

"Eh, I know how that one turns out…" Betty said as she lead them away.

* * *

They were now lying in Kate's bed shoulder to shoulder, staring up at the ceiling above them. The boarding house was quiet around them as most girls were out spending their freedom from the factory the best way they knew how. VicMu had been closed for business since the accident and wouldn't reopen again until the destruction of the blast had been cleared away and the building was made new again. Gladys reported that the construction was happening around the clock now, so Betty figured it wouldn't be long before the doors opened back up for the workers. She figured the other girls in the house must have felt the count down as well since most spent their nights putting as much life into them as they could. And yet, here they were in Kate's room putting just as much life into their night, only without even lifting a finger.

"Then what happened?"

"Well, I scared the squirrel up the tree while my brother Thomas waited for it high in the branches."

"And?" Kate asked as if she were holding her breath for the next part.

"And the squirrel won out and Thomas hit every branch on the way down. He broke his collar bone, I caught hell from my Pops, and my brother and I both learned the life lesson that squirrels don't make for easily adopted pets."

"Oh, goodness," Kate smiled, warming Betty's heart at the sight. "I guess not. How awful."

"Hey, I was just glad I didn't lose out on the coin toss and had to be the one waiting in the tree for the squirrel."

"Betty!" Kate scoffed, swatting her arm playfully. "I'm sure you're poor brother wouldn't have appreciated that thought at the time."

"Yeah, well, that's the story of how the great McRae-Squirrel War began."

Kate let a yawn slip out as she tried to blink the sleep away that was drawing in on her.

"Here I am yammering on about old stories," Betty said, sitting up. "I really should be letting you get some rest."

"No, I love hearing your old stories," Kate said, grabbing Betty's arm like she was suddenly worried she was going to leave. "Please, don't go yet. It's still early."

Betty looked at the clock, it was now ten o'clock and she knew other girls would be returning home soon from their newfound free nights. She'd already tried leaving three times before, but was stopped each time. It seemed Kate always thought of one more thing to keep her there. A game of gin rummy, playing records, going over old stories from growing up on the prairies , Kate didn't seem to want the night to end.

Betty was beginning to wonder if it was something more than not wanting the night to end, but without questioning it, she lay back down beside Kate. She watched as Kate carefully turned on her side, the one without the injury, and looked over at her. "How about you? Did you and your brothers have any calamity fun growing up?"

Kate shook her head. "No, not really. Gabriel and Seymour were born much later, so by the time they came around, I was expected to help my mother with them. I'm afraid there wasn't much time for that kind of fun."

Betty turned on her side as well and watched as Kate traced patterns on the bed spread between them. She took her in, her soft hair seemed more lustrous now than it was at the hospital, but the deep lines that extended from her tired eyes troubled Betty.

"Kate, have you been getting much sleep since you returned home?"

Kate looked up at her, surprised at the change in conversation. She considered her words for a moment and then shook her head without saying a word, only allowing her tired eyes to relay the truth to Betty.

"Is it because of nightmares again?"

This time Kate nodded her confirmation.

"About the accident?"

Betty kept her voice in a low whisper, keeping the exchange safely between them. Kate looked down at the bedspread and shook her head no.

"You're father?"

This got another confirmation nod.

"He can't hurt you anymore," Betty tried. She knew it wasn't the best words to offer, but it was the only words she had to give. Kate's safety was the best result that came out of the whole ordeal and it would be one that she would stand by every single time.

"That's the thing, though," Kate said, finally as she focused on the imaginary lines beneath her fingers. "In them, he's not hurting me, it's much worse…"

Betty's brow wrinkled in confusion just before Kate looked up, her eyes blazing with despair.

"…He's hurting you."

Betty's breath caught in her throat at Kate's sincerity.

"Well, he can't hurt me either anymore," Betty said, her voice high pitch from the emotions surging through her. "He can't hurt either one of us anymore."

"I'm not so sure about that," Kate said, softly.

She looked back down at the bedspread as she extended her fingers out between them and rubbed her hand across the soft fabric in the same manner as she had done across her dress numerous times that day. Back and forth with a purpose only Kate knew. This time though, Betty reached out and stopped the motion by gently slipping her hand underneath hers, intertwining their fingers together to hold Kate's hand safely in hers.

Kate looked up and caught Betty's gaze. Their eyes held each other as Betty's grip promised Kate that she wasn't going anywhere and that her father was no match for what was in between them – a simple handhold.

"I may not have any stories of rambunctious adventures growing up, but I do have one fond memory… although, it wasn't when I was younger."

"Let's hear it," Betty said, happy to see that Kate already seemed a bit stronger.

"When I left the first time, when my father came for me last winter… it was the cold that I had forgotten the most about. The angry words and fear and trepidation, they all fell back into place like clockwork, but the bone chilling night air… it took me by surprise. I guess I had forgotten what it was like to fall asleep shivering, to never have warm hands, or to know the painful need to keep moving."

Betty listened with the same rapt attention that Kate had given her for her stories earlier.

"Even with the shotty boiler, the boarding house had already spoiled me with its promise of warm, healthy mornings that didn't start with frosty puffs of air when I woke."

"How'd you keep warm?" Betty asked as her stomach twisted into knots over the image of Kate being so cold and so alone.

"I'd think of you."

Betty's eyebrows raised in surprise as the words warmed her when she hadn't even realized she was cold.

"For my hands, I'd picture placing them in yours as we walked home from the club or in the crook of your elbow as we waited for the street car for work. To keep from shivering, I'd lay in bed and dream of warm late-night conversations, just like the ones tonight."

The corners of Betty's mouth rose as Kate kept her eyes locked onto hers.

"So, you see, you've always kept me warm."

"Well," Betty said, clearing her throat from the emotions rising in it. "It's certainly a better idea than being piled in a bed full of your brothers where close proximity was found to be better than any heater, unfortunately."

"Like this?" Kate asked, scooting over so that she could tuck herself next to Betty, keeping their hands joined between them.

"Mmm hmm," Betty breathed out, reaching over with her free hand and pulling Kate closer to her. "Except, you smell a whole lot better than my brothers."

"Good to know," Kate said, her voice already heavy with the sleep that was fast approaching. Betty felt her own body relax as Kate's breath brushed across her neck, where she lay so close, rhythmically calming her as the warm wisps of air ghosted over her skin.

After a few minutes of relaxed silence, Kate sighed heavily.

"Betty?"

"Hmmm?"

"How come you're always taking care of me?" She asked, sleepily.

"Cause your worth taking care of," Betty whispered over to her, opening one eye to see Kate's soft smile before sleep finally won out.

That night both fell asleep in Kate's small bed, not exactly comfortable, but both perfectly content.

* * *

**A/N: **Kate is totally the squirrel and Betty hit every branch on the way down for her.

Also, check out _Young Mr. Lincoln _it's a pretty cool little film from 1939.

Finally, thanks so much for all the feedback given, it makes me smile and feel all warm and fuzzy every time my phone alerts me with a new email alert with one.


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